


A Symphony of Flavors

by Wargurl83



Category: Supernatural
Genre: (offscreen) - Freeform, Alpha Castiel (Supernatural), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Chefs, M/M, Minor Character Death, Omega Verse, thar be smut here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2019-06-26
Packaged: 2020-04-08 05:48:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 43,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19100947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wargurl83/pseuds/Wargurl83
Summary: Master Chef Castiel Novak likes his life ordered. Controlled. Sensible. He's an Alpha with no mate and no hope of finding one. His life is turned upside down with the death of his sister and taking guardianship of his nine-year-old niece, Claire. Add to that, there's a new sous chef taking up space in his very orderly kitchen with his loud music and brash attitude, and for some reason Castiel just can't take his eyes off him.Dean Winchester loves to cook, love his mom, and loves kids. His goal has been to work with Chef Novak for as long as he's been in Kansas City. What he wasn’t prepared for was an Alpha all of his own…





	1. J.S. Bach: Suite No. 1 Prelude

**Author's Note:**

> So fair warning, I have no idea what I’m doing. This is the longest thing I have ever written for myself, and my very first Bang.  
> I’m honestly a little terrified.  
> I’m a sucker for romantic comedies. One of my favorite movies is How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, so when I saw No Reservations as an alternative on Netflix, I clicked thinking to myself, “why the hell not?” Turns out, this movie isn’t actually a romantic comedy, but the story was one that stuck with me after I watched it, if only the basics of it, so when the mods for the SPNMBB burst onto the scene with a new bang based on movies, this one stuck in my head and would not leave me the hell alone.
> 
> I remember watching No Reservations for the first time and thinking that Nick’s character was so interesting, but the writer just seemed to think of him as a plot device. And while I get that, it’s a movie after all and no one really has time to sit through a movie that’s six hours long unless its Lord of the Rings extended edition, I’m a big enough Destiel fan that I saw parallels between the two dorks in the movie and the two idjits we know and love in all forms, canon and AU. 
> 
> And now, some thank yous. JScribbles, MalMuses, Amandacanzo; thank you for putting this together and urging me to join it.  
> To the MBB Discord server: ya’ll. You be crazy. I love you all.  
> To my editor, Lily (LillisBooks on AO3): Thank you for helping me take this pile of words and make it readable.  
> To my artist, Foxy: Pretty sure you are the queen of pinch hitters. My original artist ended up moving to a different country and when I panicked and went to Mal to let her know, you stepped up and not only provided art, but you also were able to help flesh out the story. Y’all, if it weren’t for Foxy, Mr. Wiggles would be an un-formed stuffed animal instead of the adorable Grumpy Cat. Go check her masterpost out [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19322842)!
> 
> Hi, Foxy here! 
> 
> It's true, I can't resist a writer in distress! 
> 
> Thanks for reading this lovely fic that was a pleasure to art for. Wargurl is so talented and lovely and they provided both the support and freedom to get the art right. 
> 
> If you'd like to see more of what I do, check out my [Tumblr](https://foxymoley.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> So, without further ado, here’s our take on No Reservations.

 

 

[ ](https://ibb.co/kmszbJR)

A young man stands at a sink; hands braced on both sides as if it were his only tether to the world. His head is bowed, and his bare shoulders tremble with the force of his grip.

He lifts his head to look in the mirror. A sandy-haired man looks back at him, one with eyes the color of a spring field and motes of gold dancing in it. Wrinkles spread out from the corners of his eyes, and stubble covers his chin in a fine dusting.

He blows out a long and careful breath and turns the sink on to wash away the nightmare that had jerked him from what little sleep he'd gotten that night. It was the same nightmare as always; the one where he was twenty-two years old again, and his little alpha brother was on his way to Palo Alto to attend Stanford.

He'd been so goddamn proud of him, getting a full ride to Stanford; but his dad, well...

He had not been amused at all.

Mom had been over the moon for her youngest son, but Dad had treated his brother like a leper ever since the acceptance letter came in. And when the day came for him to pack up his car (a frikkin Prius) and start making the drive, his father had then decided to tell him just how bad of a son he was. He'd lit into the young alpha, calling him anything and everything under the sun until his oldest son had finally had enough and stepped in.

He had never really stood up to the old man; he feared him, to be honest. But that day, watching his little brother wilt under the venom spewing from his beta father's mouth and watching Mom go from elated to shock to scared and reeking of terrified omega, something in him broke. He'd marched right up to his dad and got up in his face, giving his brother time to dive into his car and drive off.

He'd earned bruising over half his body and a broken arm that day.

The green-eyed man buries his face in his hands, and a tremor runs over his body as the echo of the pain from the beating washes over him again. It hadn't been the first time, but it was the last time his father ever laid a hand on him. He and his mother left not long after that, afraid for their lives and leaving Lawrence behind them to start over in Kansas City.

He lifts his head from his hands and blows out another breath.

Time to start the day; food doesn't make itself, after all.


	2. Clair de Lune

[ ](https://ibb.co/fnHQ4tJ)

Donna watches as her patient strides back and forth in front of her office's windows, waxing eloquently about the proper way to cook doves or some other variety of bird. She taps her pen to her chin as she watches the six-foot alpha take five measured steps to the end of the wall of windows, turn on his heel, take the same measured steps back to the bookshelf before turning around and following the same path the way he came. She tunes out the deep rumble of his voice and watches his body speak for him- the set of his shoulders tells her that he is stressed, the measured steps whisper to her that he's agitated, and his words assure her that the reason behind both is related to his job.

Not that she's surprised by that, given that his boss was the one who ordered him to take therapy in the first place.

"Are you alright, Donna?"

Donna puts her pen down on the notebook in her lap, looks up at the alpha, and smiles. "Yes, Castiel, I'm fine. Go on."

Castiel nods and continues speaking about ways to prepare, oh, right _quail_ , as Donna continues to watch him. Her status as a beta makes it difficult to ascertain any of the subtle notes of his emotional state from his scent, but she's not one of the best anger therapists in Kansas City for no reason. Body language tells as much of a story as the scent does, after all. And Castiel's is screaming at her of his discomfort.

She taps her finger on the notebook again to draw the alpha's attention back to her, at least subconsciously. "Castiel, can I ask you something?"

Castiel stills beside the bookshelf and turns his head to look at her out of the corner of his eye. "Go ahead."

Donna nods. "Why do you come to see me every week?"

Castiel tilts his head to the side and squints at Donna. "You know why. My boss said she'd fire me if I didn't get therapy."

Donna nods her head in agreement. "And yet, here you are, not talking to me about what is bothering you. Not that I don't appreciate the cooking lesson, mind you, but I'm not sure that it's going to _help_ you." She leans forward and gestures towards the couch that separates the two of them. "Sit down. Why do you think Rachel requires you to get therapy, Alpha?"

Castiel sighs as he sinks into the couch. He sprawls with his knees wide, arms out to the sides as he lays his hands down at his sides, palms flat on the cushion. He lets his head tip back on the couch and closes his eyes. "You know Donna. I'm not really sure".

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

The din of the kitchen is deafening. Dinner is in full swing, and the kitchen reflects the state of the restaurant: full capacity, with a wait time of at least an hour for the poor saps who couldn't be bothered to call ahead of time for a reservation. Castiel can feel the sweat that pours down his back pooling where his apron is tied around his hips as he directs the sous chef and calls out the orders ready to the servers. He leans back and calls out to Anna over his shoulder, "Anna, I need a quail and a Dover sole for table nine."

He lifts the frying pan with the porterhouse for table ten off the fire and over Anna's head as he turns to the plating station. They work in beautiful tandem, he and Anna, their movements a dance they've done a million times before.

Her pregnant belly and sweet scent minutely settle his nerves as they complete the dance and the steak comes to rest on the plate alongside garlic mashed potatoes. He garnishes it with parsley and a twist of an orange peel.

The alpha turns and slides the plate onto the warming shelf calling out "Order up!" before spinning in place, turning back to the gas cooktop. Anna brushes behind him, trailing a hand along his back so that he knows where she is.

"Where the hell are my tenderloins?" Castiel calls out as he puts another skillet on the fire to preheat for table twenty's meal.

Billie bustles in and picks up table ten's plate. "Hey Chef, table eight wants you to know that the lamb chops have never been better!" she calls out to him as she backs out the swinging double doors.

Castiel laughs. "Really? And what the hell would they know?" he says under his breath. Anna huffs a laugh behind him as she works on the quail for table nine. Castiel quirks a smile and shakes his head as the butter for the tenderloin, that finally appeared at his station, browns.

The doors open once again and Rachel's lemon meringue scent wafts in over the smell of the cooking that permeates the kitchen. "Castiel, the Adlers are here. They want to tell you how brilliant you are tonight." Castiel rolls his eyes before looking up at the restaurant owner.

"Yes well, a good chef belongs in the kitchen, Rachel. Give them my regards." He tosses the meat in the skillet, turning it so that it sears to a nice medium rare on all sides.

Rachel sighs and crosses her arms under her breasts. "At least go say hello. You know they are loyal regulars here, and some of our best customers."

Castiel shrugs, but when he looks back up at Rachel, he sighs. "Fine. Give me just a moment." He takes the tenderloin off the fire to let it finish cooking before turning around to Anna. "Don't cook the quail too long, or they'll- "

"I know Cassie." Anna's amusement tickles his nose, a bright scent of orange blossoms, as she looks over her shoulder from where she's coating the bird with hot oil. "They get tough, I know."

Castiel huffs. "No, they get dry. _I_ get tough."

Anna throws back her head and laughs before bumping her hip out at him. "Go on; your adoring public wants to see you."

Castiel rolls his eyes again as he passes off the tenderloin to one of the line cooks to finish plating. He grumbles a little under his breath as he unties the apron from around his waist and tosses it into his office as he walks over to where Rachel is waiting for him.

Rachel turns on her heel and stalks out of the kitchen, Castiel following behind her. "I'd like to talk to you about this weeks' menu," she says over her shoulder as they push out into the noisy dining room.

Castiel mentally rolls his eyes again but barely manages to keep a straight face. "Later, okay, Rachel? We've got a full house tonight."

Rachel starts to throw up her hands before she remembers where they are and stops herself. "Fine," she replies, her indignation evident in her voice and scent. "Let me know when you can pencil me in." She nods to the Adlers before taking her place behind the hostess stand again.

Castiel takes a quick breath to steel himself before plastering on a smile for the Adlers. "Good evening Mr. and Mrs. Adler. It's good to see you again," he says as he reaches to shake Mr. Adler's hand.

Mrs. Adler tuts. "How many times have we asked you to call us Naomi and Zachariah, Castiel?" She leans in to brush a kiss on his cheek, and he gets a noseful of the small alpha's scent. He has to fight with himself to not wrinkle his nose and sneeze. "You are a magician as usual, darling," she says as she pulls away.

Zachariah booms out a big laugh. "You know how she is, Castiel. She sings your praises to anyone and everyone who will listen." He looks down at his wife and continues, "In fact, it's hard not to get jealous."

Naomi smacks his upper arm and tuts again. "Nonsense dear. I will worship anyone who can constantly surprise me with creations that come out of the kitchen and tickle my palate. Castiel is a genius, and you know it."

Castiel can feel his smile become a little more genuine as he watches the mated pair bicker back and forth. He clasps his hands together in front of him as he waits for a lull in the conversation before saying, "It's always a pleasure to cook for both of you."

Naomi blushes and Zachariah chuckles. "We'll see you next week, right?"

"Of course."

They say their goodbyes and Castiel watches them leave with a small pang in his heart. Their scents have merged so much they almost smell like one person, and he envies that kind of bond.

He knows he'll never have that kind of bond. It's not in the cards for him.

He lets himself watch as they lean into each other while waiting for the valet to bring out their car. The lines of their bodies curve towards each other, leaning into the other for support, for comfort. He smiles softly to himself as he turns away to go back to the kitchen, to his safe zone.

"I'm telling you; it's not cooked properly!" Castiel looks up, his feet stalling at the shouting. His eyes flicker towards Rachel, standing next to a male beta whose face has flushed to a dark shade of red.

Castiel tilts his head and diverts his path over to the table that Rachel is standing next to. "May I ask what this is about?" he asks, softly.

Rachel pales and quickly tries to shoo Castiel away, back towards the kitchen. "Castiel, I can handle this."

The red-faced beta whips his head towards Castiel, scent spiking with aggression. "I take it you are the 'chef,' then?" Castiel can hear the air quotes around the word, and he feels himself ruffle at the insult.

"Yes, I am the chef. What seems to be the problem here?"

"There's something that I'd like to show you." The beta picks up his dinner companions' dish and shoves it at Castiel. "My wife's foie gras hasn't been cooked long enough."

The young woman sitting with him buries her face in his hands. "Please don't do this," she says, her scent swirling with embarrassment.

Castile draws himself up, and he feels fury start to spike under his skin. "Excuse me?" he asks. He can hear Rachel trying to placate the beta in the background, but he ignores her. "This dish is cooked just fine."

The beta sneers. "There's nothing to be ashamed of, sweetheart. Even the best stumble over foie gras."

Castiel takes a deep breath and holds it for two seconds, trying to follow Donna's advice and control his temper. "There is nothing wrong with the foie gras. It's cooked precisely as it should be. One hundred and forty degrees in the oven, 80 degrees water temperature for 25 minutes. Not too long, not too short, with the perfect touch of pink, _sweetheart_."

The beta turns an interesting shade of purple and Castiel can feel his anger rising to match the beta's. The man throws the dish to the floor, shattering the plate and sending food skittering across the floor, and snarls at Castiel. Castiel can smell his wife's embarrassment start to tinge with fear. He subtlety lays a hand between her shoulders to let her know that he is not angry with her before he turns to her husband and lets his alpha show through his eyes.

"I apologize that you feel the food does not meet to your approval. I assure you that I _do_ know what I'm doing, which is the reason why Rachel hired me as executive chef. However, if you feel that you can do a better job, I invite you to take my place in the kitchen for one night. I'm sure that you will be able to teach me many things that I have not already learned from some of the best Chefs in the world." He tamps his scent down into an icy point and levels the beta with a flat stare.

The disgruntled customer suddenly shoves away from the table and throws his napkin down. "That's it. We'll take our business elsewhere." He looks at his wife and continues, "Let's go."

Castiel can feel the young woman's back tense under his palm before he pulls away and draws the chair out, allowing her to get to her feet. She looks back at him, and he can see the embarrassment and a little bit of fear in her eyes before she scurries after her husband.

Castiel's alpha rises, and before he can stop himself, he says, "May I suggest Vinnie's hot dog stand at the corner? He cooks to order." His inner alpha growls, satisfied, and settles back down as he watches the couple leave the restaurant.

The restaurant is silent as he stalks back to the kitchen, and he fights to tamp down on his fury again before he clears out the restaurant from his scent alone. He detours around the server's entrance and enters the kitchen from another side so that he doesn't collide with the kitchen staff, and stalks into his office to retrieve his apron.

He can smell Rachel's fury as he turns around to face her. "Every fucking time, Castiel. How many times do I have to tell you, not everyone in this fucking city has to like your cooking?"

Castiel wraps his apron around his hips, tying it in the front a little tighter than necessary. He snorts and says, "That beta was a barbarian. Did you not see how his wife reacted to the way he acted? He knew damn well the food was done correctly and was angling for a free meal." He brushes by her back into the kitchen.

Rachel stalks after him. "He was still a paying customer. If he says that the foie gras isn’t done, then it wasn't done. I swear to God, Castiel if you weren't one of the better chefs in this city..." She trails off, and Castiel bristles before he turns around to face her again.

"You'd what? Fire me? I'm not one of the _better chefs_ in this city Rachel; I'm the only one who will work for you and your self-inflated ego." He can hear the chatter of the kitchen die around them as he continues, "So, yes, Rachel. Fire me. Good luck finding another executive chef in this city that will come to work for you that can continue to produce as well as I can."

He turns back around to face his staff and sighs. "Let's go, people, we still have hungry people to feed." The chatter picks back up as his mood evens out and the din of the kitchen is all he can hear.

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

It's three am when he finally lets himself into his apartment building that night. He stops to check the mail, and flips through it, fishing out the bills before he tosses the junk mail in the trash can next to the elevator. He taps the button to take him to his floor as he reviews the documents, mentally reminding himself to pay them tomorrow from his account.

When the elevator stops at his floor with a cheery _ding,_ he makes his way out of the lift as he fishes his keys out of his pocket. As he reaches his apartment the door next to his opens to show his omega neighbor, Michael, into the hallway. Castiel, not being in the mood for talking due to the late hour, nods in greeting before turning away and unlocking his door and pushing inside.

He leaves the lights off as he makes his way through the front hall towards his bedroom. He strips his clothes off as he goes, leaving a trail behind him. If only he could strip off the day as easily as he can his clothes.

He fishes his phone out of the pocket of his checkered slacks and checks for missed messages, but of course, there are none. He's married to his job, and his only friend works with him in the kitchen, so of course there are no messages.

He makes sure his alarm’s set and plugs in his phone, then gathers clean clothes and shuffles into the bathroom. The room fills with steam once the water is warmed up, and he steps under the spray and lets the shower sooth his muscles. He sighs again as he thinks back to the beta and his wife in the restaurant earlier that night. Yes, he'd let his alpha take control again, but the young woman's reaction unsettled him. He hoped that she was okay and that her husband wasn't taking his anger out on her.

He slaps the tile wall in frustration and shakes his head to clear his mind before he finishes washing the smell of oil, cooked meat, and the scents of his kitchen staff off his skin. He knew damn well that his alpha had risen not to meet the challenge of the beta- he was a gnat, nothing more- but to protect someone his alpha thought was in danger.

There's nothing he can do about that now.

He rinses the shampoo out of his hair and turns off the water, drying himself quickly before slipping into his sleep pants. He gathers the clothes from the floor on his way back to the bedroom and throws them into the hamper before slipping under the covers.

“ _At least Rachel has gotten her damned menu planning done_ ,” he thinks as his eyes drift closed and he goes to sleep.

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

The beginning bars of _Clair de Lune_ prompts Castiel to crack one of his eyes open before hissing at the bright light streaming into his bedroom. The orchestral arrangement continues to play as he shuts his eye again and rolls away from the windows. He cautiously opens his other eye before pushing himself up into a sitting position and reaching out for his phone. He waits for the first swell of the music, smiling gently, before turning off the alarm. He stretches with his hands linked above his head, before running his hands through his hair and down his face.

He pulls on a well-worn robe and shuffles down the hallway to the kitchen where his Keurig sits, mug already in place. He thumbs the machine on and swaps out the pod and props his elbows on the counter in front of it as he waits – impatiently – for the coffee to brew. He sucks in a greedy lungful of the smell of the roast before he reaches out for the sugar canister and dumps one teaspoon of sugar into the slowly filling mug. He puts the canister back and pushes away from the counter to fish out a banana and a bagel out of the cupboard before snatching the coffee cup and making his way out to the deck.

The early fall morning is a bit tart still, the coolness of the season tasting like peppermint on his tongue, as he sits down and tilts his face to the sun. He lets its rays soak into his skin for a moment before blinking himself back to full wakefulness and taking a sip of his coffee. He mentally runs over his to-do list for the day as well as his wish list for the market he'll be going to after his coffee is consumed. The farmer's market in downtown Kansas City is finally starting to take off, and local growers are coming in with all sorts of items that he is excited to start sourcing. He can get them elsewhere, of course, but he preferers to cook with fresh ingredients as often as possible, and if he can help a local business?

Well, that’s just a bonus.

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

The farmers market is packed when he finally gets there at – he checks his watch – nine am. The smells of the market threaten to overwhelm him and get a rise out of his alpha until he finally wrestles him back down with a mental _thwack_ to his metaphorical nose. His inner alpha huffs in displeasure but retreats and leaves him alone.

He winds his way through the stalls, stopping here and there to exchange words with the people working them. He spends more time than he expected deep in conversation with an older beekeeper by the name of Cain and buys enough honey to stock his cabinets before handing off a card for the restaurant.

He wonders around the market some more until he finds a flower stall. The blonde omega is operating it by herself and looks a little out of her depth as she tries to take payment and hold a bundle of peonies at the same time. He hurries over to her just as the flowers slip out of the crook of her arm and starts to plummet to the ground.

"Oh! Thank you," she exclaims as he deftly catches the pink and green bundle. He looks up and smiles at her as he holds them for her while she finishes the transaction, then hands them over to their new owner.

"It's no problem miss...?"

She waves her hand. "No 'miss' here. Name's Mary." She sticks her hand out for him to shake and he catches a waft of leather from her. He grins and shakes her hand. "So, in thanks for saving my butt with those flowers, what can I get for ya?"

He casts an eye around her stall. "Do you by any chance own this shop?"

"Sure do. Started it around six years ago when we moved up from Lawrence." She looks around proudly. "First year here though, and it's a lot harder than I expected it to be if you want the truth. People out here are in a bigger hurry than when they come to see me at the shop."

Castiel chuckles at that. "Yes, I've noticed that too." He casts another appraising glance around her stall and then comes to a decision. "Mary, do you by chance have any contracts with restaurants in the area?"

Mary laughs. "God no, wish I did though. I'd love to be able to put together a weekly or twice weekly order for some of the places around here." She looks thoughtful, then says, "Especially that French place. The place looks so pretty inside, but the tables are so bare…"

Castiel outright grins as he pulls the card for the restaurant out of his pocket. "Well, as it so happens, I'm the Executive Chef over there…" His grin widens when a hand flies to her mouth as she takes the card. "I would love to see your creations on the tables where my food is served, Mary." He taps the card and continues, "Give me a call after three tomorrow. I'm off today, but tomorrow I'll be in my office around then making sure that the menu is set up and I'll be able to get you connected with Rachel."

Mary looks up at Castiel with tears in her eyes. Abruptly, she throws her arms around Castiel and hugs him tightly as she whispers a 'thank you' in his ear before pulling away again, swiping at the drops running down her face. "Thank you, Castiel, this... this means more to me than you know."

Castiel nods and casts a look around for a honeysuckle vine but is slightly disappointed when he can't find one. He was so sure that he'd caught a whiff of the flower, but mentally shrugs to shake that thought off and reaches for a bouquet of bright orange lilies instead. "I'll take these, and no, I won't let you just give them to me."

She frowns at him and huffs a little but rolls her eyes when she sees the stubborn alpha peek out in his eyes. "Alright, fine you snarly Alpha. $17 for the bundle."

They grin at each other as they finish out the purchase and Castiel starts to walk away to let others take up her time. He stops and turns around before he takes more than a few steps though and says to Mary, "Let me know if you ever want to stop in for a bite. I'll be more than happy to make sure you get a seat." With a wink and a secret grin at her shocked face, he blends back into the crowd and continues perusing through the stalls, looking for a new vendor to source his truffles from.

It isn't until he is walking out of the market to head home that he realizes his alpha is practically purring in the back of his mind. " _That's a little odd_ ," he thinks to himself. " _He usually only does that around Hannah and Claire."_

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

The afternoon sun is warm as it streams through the kitchen windows. Castiel is sitting at the kitchen table going over paperwork when his phone rings. He swipes to answer the call before he sees who his caller is, and grins when he hears his sister's voice over the line as he puts the phone to his ear.

"Hey, Cassie! Just checkin' in, we should be there about nine or so. That still okay with you?"

He can hear the smile in Hannah's voice and feels his mouth stretch to match it. He sits back in his chair as he answers. "Hello, Hannah. Nine should be fine; I will make sure to be home by then."

"Awesome!" He can hear an echoing of the sentiment and realizes he must be on speaker. "So, what are you up to right now? Reading some cookbook, right?" Hannah laughs a little, and he hears Claire laugh as well, and he pouts a little before responding.

"Don't be ridiculous," he says as he shoves the three cookbooks in front of him away. "I do have other interests, you know."

"Uh huh. Name one."

Castiel rolls his eyes and swiftly changes the subject. "Claire, how are you doing?"

Hannah answers before Claire can. "She's adorable, as always, and you are changing the subject!"

Castiel hears Claire scoff before she answers, "I'm doing great Uncle Cas! Mom's gonna let me dye my hair!"

Castiel's eyes widen as he hears Hannah splutter. "Claire! I said I would let you when you are _older!_ Not right now!"

"Aw but mom! I hate my hair! Everyone makes fun of it saying I look like I was adopted cause my hair doesn't match yours or Uncle Cas'." He can hear her pouting through the phone.

Hannah clucks her tongue. "I know sweetheart, but those chemicals are harsh, and..."

Claire cuts her off. "I know, Mom. I know."

Castiel clears his throat. "So, what do you guys want for dinner?"

Hannah hums. "I think we'll grab a pizza or something before we get there. For us, nine pm is late, even if you are used to staying up into the wee hours."

"Are you sure? What does Claire even eat these days?"

"Oh, you know, just about anything. I swear she's a black hole instead of a kid."

"Mom!"

Hannah laughs again, and Castiel basks in the tinkling sound of his only sibling's joy. He loves his sister so much.

"Alright, well, I'm going to get off here and focus on driving. You know how these crazy ass people can be on 35." Castiel hums in agreement. "I love you Castiel. We'll see you tonight, and I'll call and check in when we get closer."

"Bye Uncle Cas! I love you too!"

Castiel smiles. "I love you both more than you know. I'll talk to you soon."

After they hang up, Castiel moves away from the kitchen table and changes into his working clothes. He'll go in for a few hours before his sister and niece get there to set up the menu for the week that he's planning on being out in order to spend time with them after his appointment with Donna. As he leaves his apartment and gets halfway to the elevator, he smells Michael coming up the stairs, his kids in tow. He quickly turns around to go back to his apartment, but Michael comes out of the stairwell before he can even get his key in the door.

"Hey, Castiel!" Michael's kids jostle around him and make a break for the apartment door, and Castiel barely manages to dodge out of the way. "Did you just get home?"

"No, I just forgot something." Castiel points to his apartment door as if to point this out to the omega.

Michael nods in understanding. "Ah, okay. How are you doing?"

"I'm well, thank you." Castiel fidgets for a few seconds, desperately trying to figure out a way to get away without seeming rude.

Michael doesn't seem to notice Castiel's discomfort. "Are you working tonight? I know this great little Thai place down the street."

"I am. Just for a few hours, my sister and niece are coming into town."

Michael shoots a glance at him. "I don't give up that easily, you know? One of these days I'm going to convince you to have dinner with me."

Castiel sighs. It looks like he's not going to get out of this without being a little blunter than he'd rather be with Michael. "Look, Michael. I just don't usually,” he sighs and rakes a hand through his hair. “I don't generally do that."

"What, eat dinner?"

"Dinner dates." Castiel's face is surely showing his displeasure at being backed into a corner at this point, but Michael presses on.

"Okay, how about breakfast?"

Castiel sighs again. "Look. You live in my building, Michael. I don't generally date people that live in the same building as I do as a rule."

Michael's scent sours as he finally starts to take the hint. "You sure do have a lot of rules." Castiel starts to brush by him towards the stairs as Michael says, "Didn't you say you forgot something?"

Castiel stops and turns around, striding to his door again, this time getting his key into the lock. "Yes, I did. Thank you."

"Yeah, whatever." Michael's voice is level, but his scent betrays how hurt the exchange has left him as he slams his door behind him.


	3. Messe a 3 Voix

[ ](https://ibb.co/XD7jXJy)

"I don't understand. What's so bad about having rules? It's not like I'm controlling or anything; I just prefer things to be done right the first time." Castiel pauses in the act of setting the table for Donna to sit down at and tilts his head to the side in thought. "Although, I guess that's why I end up doing everything myself."

Donna watches Castiel as he flits around the rooftop area, noting the fact that he is holding himself tense as if he was trying to make himself smaller and less threatening. She leans against the building and scents the air. He's upset about something, but he's trying to control his feelings and keep the scent at bay.

She frowns a little at that. Castiel was supposed to be working on processing how he's feeling, not shoving it down. It's what's causing the alpha's feral side to take over in cases of extreme anger or defensiveness.

Her attention snaps back to Castiel as he begins to speak again. "Do you know how complicated it is to coordinate 40 dishes at once?" Castiel asks as he plates the food. "I hope you like scallops, by the way."

Donna smiles, amused with the alpha’s behavior as he finishes plating the food, but her mouth waters as she sits down. "I thought we agreed that you weren't going to do this for me anymore?"

"What?"

She spreads her hand across the table, sweeping over the food. "Cook for me."

Castiel huffs. "I didn't cook it for you," he sniffs. "I just tried some new ideas and..." He falters a little before finishing in a quiet voice, "Who else am I going to get to try it out?" He smells sad as Donna watches his shoulders droop.

Donna's heart breaks a little for the alpha. She knows that he doesn't have many friends and decides to take a different path than normal. She points to the chair opposite of hers, and inquires, "Care to join me for lunch, Alpha? Our chef seems to have made enough for two."

A tiny smile quirks at the alpha's lips before he sits down, plating a small portion for himself.

The sounds of silverware and two people eating reign for a few minutes as they consume the culinary delight that Castiel brought with him. “ _The man sure does know how to cook,”_ she thinks to herself as they clean their plates. She sits back with a glass of water and focuses on Castiel once again.

"So," she drawls the word out in her Midwestern accent and casts an eye at the alpha sitting across from her. "We are gonna try something different today. I'm going to ask you some questions, and I'd like you to answer them."

Castiel tenses, but nods at her to go ahead. Donna blows out a breath and sets down her glass on the table, then folds her hands in her lap.

"When were you last in a relationship?"

Castiel raises his eyebrow and levels a flat look towards her. "That's a bit personal, don't you think?"

Donna hums and nods her head in agreement. "This _is_ therapy, Alpha," she says wryly. "How long, Castiel?"

Castiel's shoulders droop, and she can smell the sadness wafting off him again. "I don't know exactly. Three years? Maybe four?" He shrugs his shoulders and hunches in on himself a little.

Donna nods. "Who ended it?"

"I did," Castiel says. Donna makes a questioning noise in her throat, and he continues, "He was becoming... demanding."

Donna is surprised by that, so she asks, "How so?"

Castiel shrugs again. "He started pushing for things that I didn't feel ready for. He wanted me to move in with him, said that after two years of dating it was time. As if there is a set schedule that we had to follow to keep dating." He shifts and points at one of the pots, "Did you try the saffron sauce?"

Donna quirks her eyebrow at him, and Castiel squirms a little in his chair, likely from being caught at trying to change the subject. She leans forward a little and asks, "What's so bad about moving in together, Castiel?"

Castiel huffs and hunches in on himself more, wrapping his arms around his middle as if to protect his belly. "He wanted me to give up my apartment. Why would I want to do that? I'd move out, we'd get a place together..." he sighs, and Donna watches as he looks down at the tar on the roof. "He'd eventually leave as they all do, and then where would I be? Still alone, stuck in a place that doesn't feel like my own."

Donna considers the man in front of her. "Castiel, how do you handle your ruts?"

Castiel squirms in his seat again, and his scent turns sour. "I don't. I take suppressants."

Donna's eyebrows shoot up. "That's dangerous."

Castiel bites his lip and nods. "I know. But I don't trust anyone enough to be able to spend them with, and it's not-” he waves his hands in the air. “It’s not possible for me to go through them alone." He pauses and then adds an afterthought of, "not anymore."

Donna sits back in her chair and blows out a breath. No wonder Castiel's alpha was giving him such a hard time. No mate, no rut, and suppressants shoving him down into the back of Castiel's mind? The alpha has been lucky so far, but...

"Alright Alpha. Thank you for answering me. It helps me understand a little more what's going on in that noggin of yours."

Castiel quirks a tiny grin and then inclines his head towards the saffron sauce again.

Donna rolls her eyes but nods and dips the spoon in the pot of the sauce as a reward to Castiel for opening up to her. She hums in surprise. "This is amazing, Alpha."

Castiel responds with a quiet "thank you."

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

The kitchen is controlled chaos, as usual, when he stops in later that day for a few hours to give himself something to do while he waits for Hannah and Claire to arrive. The smells ground him, and Anna's bright, happy scent brings him a little peace after being so unsettled during his therapy appointment that day.

He hasn't allowed himself to think about Balthazar in a really long time. The beta had been a friend long before they became lovers, but even knowing each other as long as they had, Baz still tried to change Castiel to suit his whims.

Castiel snorts to himself and allows the din of the kitchen to draw him back out of the memories of his last relationship. He calls out for the lobster for table twelve as Billie bustles into the kitchen along with a waitress he doesn't know.

"I'm just saying, I'm an actress. I have no idea why he would think I would do naked bondage movies."

The blonde with her snorts and shakes her head. "The world is full of pervs. The guy at table ten? He's the worst of them."

Billie rolls her eyes and groans. "Oh my god, I know. A different bimbo on his arm every time he graces us with his presence. I swear if he leers at my tits one more time, he's gonna regret it."

Castiel flicks his eyes up from the skillet he is searing a pork chop in to watch Billie pick up table twelve's order. Carlos, one of the newer kitchen assistants, darts behind her at the same time she turns around, crashing into her and sending the dishes crashing to the floor. Castiel's lips tighten at the waste of good food, and as he prepares himself to chew out Carlos, he notices that Billie's scent matches her face - ready to rip someone's head off- as she whips around to face the hapless line cook.

"God damn it, Carlos! What the fuck were you thinking running behind me like that? Get your ass back over to the line and stay the fuck out of our way," she snarls at him. He hunches his shoulders and scuttles away from her as quickly as he can manage.

Castiel catches Billie's eye and nods at her to let her know she's done a good job at chastising the assistant, and the beta preens a little at him. He clears his throat so that they can hear him over the noise that still rules the kitchen and knows his scent follows the sound. "Everyone needs to make sure they are paying attention in this kitchen," he says as the sound dies out in the hot room. He looks around and sees everyone listening and nodding in agreement. "This time it was just food, but the next time it could be a person who is smashing to the floor." He looks at Carlos with this and sees him hunch his shoulders and mutter an apology to Billie. "Alright. Fire two more lobsters. Put a hold on nine." He claps his hands together twice. "Come on people; the food won't cook itself."

The kitchen explodes back into its normal frenzy of noise and motion as everyone gets back to work. Castiel smiles a little at the dance that the staff performs in the kitchen around him. Even with the occasional misstep, he knows he truly does work with some of the best cooks and servers in the state.

Castiel looks down to the touch on his elbow to see Carlos hovering and wringing his hands. He's close enough now that Castiel can smell the embarrassment and fear wafting off the young alpha.

"I'm sorry sir. This is the highest traffic kitchen I've ever worked in."

Castiel nods and lets his scent mellow. "It's alright Carlos. Just don't let it happen again. The servers always have the right of way in a kitchen like this one. If you need to get out from the line, go around the back way. It's a hassle, yes, but that way you won't be between the server station and the doors."

Carlos nods and hustles back over to his station, leaving Castiel alone again. He mentally muses over the menu and hopes that they'll have enough lobster to finish out the evening. Anna bumps a hip into him and breaks him out of his reverie, and he casts a worried look at her. "I hope you don't run out of lobster for the night."

Anna snorts and waves her hand at him. "We'll be fine Cas. Have we ever run out of lobster before?" He raises an eyebrow at her as she continues, "It'll be fine. If we run out, we run out. Chill Cas, hydrate. Why are you even here anyway? Hannah and Claire are on their way, and I figured that you would want to cook for them."

Castiel rolls his eyes and sticks his tongue out at her. "You're a mom already. And they won't be here until late and said they were going to pick up something before they got here."

Anna playfully sticks her tongue out in retaliation. "I gotta practice while I can, right?" She pats her belly, and Castiel watches as her face softens. "Can you believe it? We are almost ready to meet this little pup."

Castiel smiles. "I know, Anna. We all can't wait to meet him."

They trade soft smiles as they get back to work.

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

Hours later the kitchen is running along like a well-oiled machine. Castiel can feel the sweat dripping down his back and sides, as per usual, when the phone in the kitchen starts to ring. The staff is busy enough that no one has their hands free to be able to grab the handset, so it goes unanswered.

Then it starts ringing again.

"Will someone answer the phone, please," Castiel calls out. He'd get it himself, but the tenderloins he's working on cannot be left just yet.

Anna finishes the quail she is working on and snatches the phone up just before it rings out again. He can hear her murmuring behind him but has her tuned out.

And then the smell of her distress hits his nose.

He throws a glance over his shoulder to assess his sous chef and sees her pale face. She murmurs into the phone again and lays it down on her chest to block out the noise.

"Cas, it's for you."

"If it's my sister tell her-"

Anna cuts him off, and her scent is sharp enough now the entire staff in the kitchen is shuffling uncomfortably. "Cas, sweetie, you need to take this call."

Castiel squints at her, confused, but takes the pan off the fire and crosses the small space to her and takes the phone.

"Castiel Novak?"

"Speaking."

"My name is Dr. Bradbury, and I'm with the University of Kansas Hospital. I work in the ER, and I'm calling to notify you that your sister, Hannah Novak, has passed away. Claire is here in stable condition..."

Castiel's breath seizes in his lungs. Sound washes away until all he can hear is white noise. Smells coagulate until all he can smell is grief. His knees give out from under him, and dimly he can hear Anna calling out to him as his world goes black.

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

Time passes slowly as he struggles to process how the only good part of his world has crashed down around his ears. Anna had been able to rouse him and shuffle him to his office until he could get gather himself enough to tell her what the phone call had been about. She had called him a cab to get him to the ER, and now he is sitting by himself in the back, shock descending on him, his alpha howling in pain and itching under his skin.

The cabbie throws a worried look at him in the rear-view mirror. "You gonna be okay mate?"

Castiel just slowly shakes his head in the negative and continues to stare out the window at the buildings passing by. _Shock_ , he thinks to himself. _I'm in shock._

_My sister is dead._

He draws in a deep breath, and curls up to his hindbrain, letting the feral part of him take over a little to put a buffer between himself and the outside world. He huddles in his mind, desperately grasping for some clarity.

_My sister is dead. What about Claire?_

He vaguely remembers the doctor telling him that Claire was stable, but what did that really mean? Her father wasn't in the picture- Gadreel had been a deadbeat who’d gotten Hannah pregnant and walked out as soon as she found out. His parents have been dead for years. He and Hannah were all the other had left.

Claire is all he has left now.

His alpha whines, shaking him out of the fog enough to pay the driver and stumble out of the cab and over to the Emergency Room entrance. An orderly grasps his arm at the door and guides him over to the reception area, leaving him with the nurses there. He fumbles his wallet out of his pocket so he can prove who he is and asks where Claire is.

One of the nurses, a matronly black woman whose name tag says "Missouri" takes him by the arm and steers him towards a waiting area and then to a private room beyond. She tells him in low tones that Claire is fine, just bumps and bruises, but that she is asleep and to not wake her up.

"Has anyone told her?"

Missouri shakes her head sadly. "No sugar, no one has told her yet. She's in shock, and we didn't want to tell her until she had someone here that can support her."

Castiel nods woodenly and squeezes Missouri's hand in thanks before letting her go and collapsing into a chair next to Claire's bed.

Hours pass as Castiel stares at nothing, caught in his head, his grief. The sounds of the ER float around him, muffled as if he’s encased in cotton. Dr. Bradbury comes in at one point and reaffirms what Missouri had told him about Claire- nothing serious, just bumps and bruises- and tells Castiel that they can leave in the morning, that she'd left the discharge orders at the nursing station and just wanted to keep her overnight for observation. A page for the doctor comes over the intercom, and she apologizes as she makes her leave, red hair swirling around her shoulders as she hurries out of the room.

Castiel reaches out and takes Claire's warm hand in his own and strokes the back of it with his thumb. How is he supposed to tell this bright young light that her mother is dead? Tears start coursing down his face as he leans over her hand and he keens low in his throat, his body shaking with the suppressed grief. He shivers when a small hand buries itself in his hair, petting him.

He looks up into Claire's bright blue eyes, shining with unshed tears. He watches as she swallows and gathers her courage.

"Hey, Uncle Cas." She sits up a little and winces as she feels the bruises flare up. "Where's Mom?"

His throat locks up with fresh grief, and he can feel his body tremble again, can hear the whine his throat involuntarily produces. He can smell the sharp scent of anger and sadness that weighs the room down. He sees the instant that Claire puts it all together and _knows_.

"She's dead, isn't she?" she asks in a small voice.

Castiel nods and gathers his niece in his arms, and they cling together as they keen out their grief together, the only thing left in the world the other has.

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

It's later when he realizes that he has a missed call and a voicemail. Claire has fallen asleep again out of exhaustion, so Castiel brushes the hair back from her face, kisses her forehead and ducks out of the room to check his phone.

When he opens the app, he realizes it's from Hannah.

Dread pools in his stomach as he toggles over to the voicemail and presses 'play'.

_"Hey Cas, it's me!"_

_"And me!"_

_"We just wanted to let you know we are running a little behind. Traffic is a lot worse than we expected, but we should still be getting in around 9:30. Love you little brother! See you soon."_

The voicemail ends.

Tears snake down his face again as he thumbs the voicemail to listen to it again, to hear his beloved sister's laugh one more time. His hands shake as he finally closes out of the app and turns off the display and slips his phone back into his pocket. Warm hands touch his shoulders, and he looks up into the kind eyes of Missouri.

"It's okay sugar. You just cry those tears right out." She draws him into her arms, and he does.

[ ](https://ibb.co/WVm6dGs)

Morning dawns and light streams into the hospital room onto a bed with a small blonde figure with her arms wrapped around a tan and black stuffed cat and a dark-haired man slumped over next to her. Dean Winchester stops and glances in, seeing the tension in the man’s back and smelling the overwhelming grief that weighs the room down and feels his heart breaking for the pair inside.

Working in the hospital food prep means that he had a steady job, but it also means that sometimes he is privy to the worst parts of people's lives. He looks around and finds Charlie slumped over in the room next to the pair, half asleep after her twenty-four-hour shift in the ER.

Dean crosses over to her and squats down next to her and brushes her bangs away from her face. "Hey sunshine, you okay?"

Charlie stirs and presses her nose into Dean's wrist, inhaling deeply before blinking her eyes open. "Hey Dean," she says as she struggles to sit up in the chair she collapsed into.

Dean backs away to give her room and collapses onto the couch next to her. He looks over at her expectantly. Everyone on the staff wears scent blockers to keep their hindbrains from getting testy in a high adrenaline environment, so he can't smell her mood. But they have known each other long enough now that he can see the exhaustion rolling off her and he knows that some shit went down last night, and she needs to get it off her chest.

Charlie sighs and rolls her neck. "The kid next door lost her mom last night."

Dean draws in a sharp breath. "What happened?"

Charlie's face grows dark. "Fucking drunk driver. Blew through a red light and plowed right into the driver's side door. Her mom was dead before the rig even got there, possibly on impact. Thank God she was on the passenger side in the back Dean. It could have been much worse for her if she hadn't been."

Dean rubs his hands down her face and sighs. "Jesus Christ, that poor kid. Her poor dad, too."

"Oh, that's not her father, that's her uncle. He said that the father was never in the picture, so he's going to take her home with him and get her settled in."

Dean looks up. "Wait, she isn't even from around here?"

Charlie shakes her head sadly. "Nope. From what I understood from talkin’ to the little tyke, her and her mom were headed up from Houston to visit her uncle for a few days during the fall break."

Dean slumps down in his seat, his heart breaking even more for the pair next door. "Jesus fuck. Poor kid." Charlie nods in agreement. Dean gets an idea and sits up quickly. "Hey Charlie, do you know when they are expected to leave? I've got an idea."

Charlie shrugs. "Whenever they are ready, discharge paperwork is at the desk with Missouri."

Dean scrambles to get his phone out of his pocket and dials as soon as it's clear and he's opened the app. "Hey Mom, sorry to call so early, but I was wondering if you had some time to get a bouquet down to the ER real fast?"

Mary yawns as she answers but knew Dean well enough to know that someone had tugged on his heartstrings again. "Sure Dean, what do you want me to bring? I can be there in ten."

Dean chews on his lip as he looks over at Charlie, who shrugs her shoulders. "Maybe some sunflowers? They lost a family member last night in a drunk driving accident."

Mary draws in a sharp breath and then lets it out slowly. "I think that's a wonderful idea, sweetheart. I'll be there soon." She hangs up, and Dean lets the phone go dark before he looks sheepishly at Charlie.

"I probably shouldn't have done that, huh?"

Charlie waves him off. "Dude I legit don't care. You're right, they just lost a family member, and I think they could stand to have a little bit of sunshine in their life right now, even if it’s just flowers. Remind them that someone is thinking about them." She gets up and stretches, and Dean can hear her back pop as she groans. "Well Winchester, I'm going to make my last rounds before I get out of here. I'll leave them for last to give Mary time to get up here with the flowers." She starts walking to the door and snakes out a hand to ruffle the short hairs on his head. He swats at her hand but grins up at her. "It shouldn't be more than twenty, if you are still up for letting me hitch a ride home."

"Duh Charles, why do you think I'm still here?" He gives her a cheeky grin as she walks out of the room. He lets the grin slip off his face as his thoughts resettle on the man and child next door.

 _God, to lose her mother at her age_ , he thinks to himself. _How horrible that's got to be. And for the man to lose his sister like that..._

Tears well up in his eyes as he thinks about it, imagining himself losing Sammy the same way. He roughly shoves those thoughts away. He's just glad that Sammy got out, and that Mom had finally listened to him after he got the beat down of his life from his sperm donor right in front of her. John was a mean old bastard, but now he was an hour away from them, and he hadn't tried to reach out to them, thank God. Dean had worried about that, but...

He shakes himself out of his melancholy thoughts when the leather and roses scent of his mom wafts into the room, followed closely by the woman herself holding a spray of bright yellow sunflowers. As she sets the vase down and leans over, she brushes his cheek with her lips. "Hey sweetheart," she says as she stands back up and brushes her hand across his hair.

Dean sits up and wraps his arms around her waist, burying his nose into her stomach. He purrs a little and hugs her tightly to ground himself before looking up at her and grinning. "You made it in good time. Thanks for bringing them down here."

Mary smiles down at her eldest and clucks her tongue at him. "Of course, sweetheart. How do you want to go about getting these to the new owners?"

Dean thinks about that for a second. He didn't want to come off as creepy or intrusive, so he makes a decision, "Let's give them to Missouri. She can pass them along when they get their discharge paperwork and just let them know they are from an anonymous donor."

Mary nods and takes a step back when Dean releases her so that he has room to haul himself off the couch. They make their way to the nurses’ station together and fill Missouri in on the plan, and the older woman grins.

"What a fine idea. I'll make sure they get them before they leave." The nurse catches Dean's eye as she continues, "Now go gather up that young Dr. Bradbury and get on out of here. I don't want to see her here until her next shift, you hear me?"

Dean grins and salutes her, as he makes his way with his mother to wait for Charlie outside. As they make their way out of the hospital, without looking back, the young child and the older man emerge from the room in which they had stayed in overnight to start the discharge process.

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

Castiel wakes up when the sunlight falls across his eyes. He stirs a little and feels a tiny hand tighten in his own, and he looks up to see Claire's eyes shining down at him. He straightens slowly as she sniffles and rubs the back of her free hand across her eyes.

"You ready to go, pup?" He asks her. She nods, and he gathers her up in his arms before depositing her gently on the floor. They clasp hands again and wonder out of the room to the nurses’ station. Nurse Missouri is still there and lets them know that Dr. Bradbury will be just a few minutes longer and that she wants to check Claire over one more time before they go home.

Home. Claire has no home now.

Castiel kneels next to her and puts his hands on her shoulders, capturing her attention. "Claire, do you want to come home with me?" She sniffles at the reminder that her mom is gone but nods enthusiastically before launching herself at him and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. He sits down in front of the nurse's desk and wraps his arms around her, drawing his knees up behind her as he cradles her in his lap, protecting her from whatever he can.

This is, of course, how Dr. Bradbury finds them. The redhead kneels and calls out softly to them, breaking the spell and drawing twin sets of blue eyes to her. "Hey kiddo, remember me?"

Claire nods, causing Castiel's chin to tip up and down with her from where she's shoved her face as far into his neck as she could get.

Dr. Bradbury smiles. "Awesome. Let's get you checked over one more time and then I promise I'll let you skedaddle out of here with your uncle, 'kay?"

Claire huffs a sigh but clambers her way out of Castiel's lap and follows Missouri back into the room they had spent the night in as Dr. Bradbury helps Castiel up from the floor. Charlie, as she asked them to call her, checks over Claire quickly and pronounces her ready to go. She trails them to the nursing station before giving her goodbyes and wandering away.

The paperwork gets taken care of swiftly, and as they turn to walk to the cab station, Missouri calls out for them to wait. She hurries over to them with a vase full of sunflowers and passes them over to Castiel.

"Wha-?"

"These are for you and the tyke, sugar. Someone felt that you needed a little bit of sunshine in your life during this dark time." She pats his check and leaves them alone again.

He and Claire look at each other and shrug. She lays her head down on his shoulder, gripping her stuffed animal and the vase between them, and they settle in to wait for a cab to come to collect them.


	4. Ramblin’ Man

 

[ ](https://ibb.co/RD0mPqJ)

Castiel's world has been smothered by fog. With his sister gone, he feels like he's lost the only bright spot in his world and flounders through the day in which he brings Claire home. He doesn't know what to do with a child, not really, but he'll be damned if Claire is going to go with anyone else. As a bachelor and an unmated alpha, he's never had the opportunity to even think about children of his own, and it shows as they struggle to communicate. Without Hannah, Castiel doesn’t know how to bridge the chasm between them. Claire is quiet through the ride home and Castiel’s attempts to make them dinner, which she only picks at.

Thankfully, the police returned Claire’s suitcase to them at the hospital, so she has clothes and personal items that Castiel hadn’t even thought of her needing as she gets ready to go to bed. Claire comes into the kitchen where Castiel is putting away the plates they used for dinner, and takes him by the hand, leading him into the guest bedroom. She climbs into the bed as Castiel sits down next to her. Claire scoots over on the bed and pats the space next to her, indicating to Castiel she wants him to sit next to her.

Castiel settles next to her and lets Claire burrow into his side. Claire grabs his left hand and brings it up to her face and buries her nose in his wrist. When she releases his hand, Castiel drags his wrist over her cheek and tucks her hair behind her ear and holds her until she falls asleep.

The next morning, they rouse themselves with the sunrise and get themselves ready for the day. They go through their morning rituals and breakfast silently before Castiel takes Claire’s hand and they leave the apartment and hail a cab. Claire cuddles into Castiel’s side during the ride to the lawyers’ office, where he formally takes custody of Claire and Hannah’s will is read. As they are leaving, the lawyer pulls Castiel to the side and hands him a sealed envelope with only “Castiel” scrawled on it in Hannah’s hand. He stares at the envelope then stuffs it into his jacket pocket and leads Claire out of the office.

During the cab ride home, Claire attaches herself to Castiel’s side again. He tries to talk to her, but she shakes her head and burrows her nose into his shirt until he gives up and tries his best to comfort her.

When they get to the apartment again, Claire runs down the hall and slams the door to the guest room, leaving Castiel to stare down the hallway after her, confused. He gently knocks on her door to no answer, so he makes his way to the kitchen to make two sandwiches.

“Claire? Sweetheart, I made a sandwich for you if you’re hungry.”

“Go away.”

“Do you want me to-“

Claire rips the door open and snatches the sandwich out of his hand and slams the door in Castiel’s face. He blinks a few times, and then retreats to the kitchen to eat his own sandwich. After he finishes eating, he collapses on his couch with a book and tries to read until dinner time when he gives up and makes dinner for the two of them.

Claire emerges from her room with the empty plate as Castiel finishes making dinner and sheepishly asks him what to do with it.

Castiel smiles at her. “Just leave it in the sink, we’ll clean everything up after dinner.”

“What did you make? It smells good.”

“Just some chicken and rice.” Castiel brings two plates over to the table and they both tuck in, but Claire only eats a few bites before she’s back to pushing the food around her plate again.

“Claire? Sweetheart? Did you not like dinner?”

Claire shrugs, but doesn’t answer.

Castiel blows out a breath. “I need to go to the resturant for a little while tonight, will you be ok here by yourself?”

Claire shrugs again, then nods her assent. They finish their dinner and clean the kitchen in silence.

Castiel leaves her tucked in her bed with instructions to call him if she needs anything and leaves instructions with the matronly omega from down the hall who offered to watch Claire that night so he could go in and work a few hours.

The restaurant is empty as he makes his way to the kitchen, everyone going silent as he walks into his office. Anna hurries over to him and traps him in his office. "I thought you were going to take a few days, Cas."

He shakes his head and sits down to start going over the paperwork that's stacked up on his desk. Anna huffs at him and leaves him alone, going back to her area to start prepping for the night. The envelope that Hannah’s lawyer had given him this morning, now tucked in the back pocket of his slacks, crinkles, but he ignores it for now as he buries himself in work. He checks over the inventories, making sure that everything is accounted for, and runs over the menus for the next week to ensure he doesn't need to order anything special.

The afternoon wears on into the evening as he clears his desk of paperwork and he stumbles across the card that was attached to the lilies he'd gotten from Mary just a few days ago. He flicks it between his fingers a few times before he makes up his mind and dials the number on the card, hoping to catch her before she closed for the day.

"Winchester Flowers, Mary speaking."

Castiel smiled wanly. "Hello Mary, this is Castiel. Do you have a few minutes to chat about getting set up with us for flower deliveries?"

She affirms that she does as she had just locked up the store. They chat for half an hour, setting up the finer details of what they were both looking for and finally agree on a contract that satisfies them both. Castiel sits back half an hour later with the first genuine smile on his face in two days.

A sour scent wafts into his office as Rachel bustles in with a stack of papers in her hand. She drops them on the desk next to him and points at them. "You need to go through these, Castiel. Anna needs to be able to start training her replacement as soon as possible so she doesn't end up having the pup right here in the kitchen."

"Pretty sure that's a health code violation, Rachel!" He hears Anna call through the door, snickers following her shout. "Lay off him; he's had a truly crappy twenty-four hours." Anna's voice lowers in volume as she makes her way to Castiel's office until she's crowding Rachel out of the space by sheer will alone (and using her stomach to back the will up).

Rachel glares at Anna, but the omega just raises her eyebrow at the restaurant manager. The staring contest continues as Anna's scent sharpens until Rachel is finally forced to look away, growling. Castiel shoots a smile to his friend in appreciation. She may be an omega, but Anna never lets anyone give her or her family, blood or otherwise, any shit on her watch.

Rachel waves her hand towards the stack of papers. "Just go through the applications, Castiel," she says before she stalks away.

Anna rolls her eyes and sticks her tongue out at Rachel's back before looking back to Castiel. "Sorry, sweetie. You know how she is, but we really do need to sit down and find me a replacement soon, so you aren't left hanging with the first person who comes along." She lowers herself into a chair next to him and sighs as she settles herself. She makes a grabbing motion at the stack of papers, and Castiel hands them over. For the next hour, they go through the applications, sorting them into three piles- yes, no, and maybe. Once they are satisfied, it’s time to start cooking for the first wave of patrons.

The next hour crawls by as Castiel tries to focus on the food in front of him instead of the worries plaguing his mind- Claire, Anna's replacement, Hannah. The clashing of pans and chattering of the staff starts to fade out into white noise as his alpha rises in his grief and takes him over. Castiel runs from his station to the cooler to keep the scent of his grief from taking over the kitchen. His back hits the door of the cooler, slamming it shut, and he grips his hair as he slides down to the floor, hunching over his knees. He shifts around so he's no longer leaning against the door and scrabbles at his back pocket, dragging the envelope out before ripping it open. Hannah's will stares up at him with a small handwritten letter folded inside of it. He picks up the letter with shaking hands.

 

_Dear Castiel,_

_The baby is gorgeous. I've called her Claire, which means "bright". Now she's here, I'm beginning to get what a huge thing it is I'm doing on my own. So, I want you to know, if anything should ever happen to me, you are the only person I would want to have her. I know you'll love my baby the same way I would. Listen to me. It must be the three-day blues. I love you, little brother._

_Hannah_

 

[ ](https://ibb.co/zbFQZLf)

He keens low in his throat as he drops the papers on the floor, hands going back to his hair. He rocks back and forth, tears coursing down his face as he and his alpha wail their grief to the world.

He feels the door bump into his side, and he shifts away as Anna pushes her way in, dropping to her knees beside him. She gathers him as close as her stomach will allow, and he buries his face in her neck. They sit there together, Anna petting his hair and Castiel breathing in her scent to calm down, for what seems like forever before Rachel comes in and kneels in front of them. A subvocal growl rumbles in Anna's chest.

Rachel says softly, "Castiel, Alpha, I want you to take a few days off." She starts to pat his shoulder, but Anna's subvocal growl raises in volume, and Rachel raises her hands to show the pregnant omega she won't touch them. "This is not a suggestion, Castiel. You can't work like this, and you need time to deal with everything regarding your sister and niece."

Castiel shivers and nods his understanding, face still buried in Anna's neck. "Okay," he whispers.

Rachel leaves and Anna finally gets him calmed down enough to go home without scaring Claire when he gets there.

 

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

Time passes in a blur over the next few days. Castiel plans Hannah's funeral, electing to have her buried in Kansas City rather than have her body transported back to Texas. He and Claire travel down to Houston to pack up the house and bring Claire's things to get her fully moved into Castiel's apartment after going shopping for child-appropriate bedroom furniture. Breakdowns come and go for both of them as they learn how to live with each other without the buffer of Hannah.

Castiel thanks his lucky stars that Claire has not yet presented and lets the tightly held control on his alpha go so they can mourn together, keening into his pillow at night after Claire is safely asleep.

Claire refuses to eat anything he puts in front of her, and he doesn't understand why, since she used to enjoy the things he would make for her before. In desperation, he takes her to the grocery store and has her pick out frozen dinners that she will eat, and even if he wrinkles his nose at them, he and his alpha agree that he is just happy that she is eating again.

That evening, he knocks on Claire's door and hesitantly pokes his head into her room. He takes a second to admire how she set it up. There are stuffed animals everywhere, and her bed looks like a comfortable nest with blankets and pillows piled high. He smiles a little to himself before he drops his gaze to the floor and sees Mr. Wiggles' brown foot sticking out from under the bed. He lowers himself to the floor and creeps over before sticking his head under the bed skirt. "Hey, Claire-bear."

Claire gives him a small smile. "Hey, Uncle Cas."

He rubs his wrist over her cheek before ruffling up her hair. "I've got to go into the restaurant for a little bit, just a few minutes. Are you going to be okay here on your own?"

Claire rolls her eyes, "'m not a baby Uncle Cas."

Castiel chuckles. "I know that sweetheart." He twists his hips around so he can pull a small prepaid cell phone out of his pocket. "Okay, just in case you need me, I'm the first, well, the only person in your contacts list. Call me if you need anything, okay?" He wiggles under the bed further so he can press his nose into her hair and mark the other side of her neck with his wrist. "I promise I won't be gone long, Claire. I'd take you with me, but I'm afraid that Rachel would skin me alive if I brought you into the kitchen on one of our busiest nights."

Claire wrinkles her nose and shoves his face away from her hair. "It's okay. Just call you if I need anything, and you'll be back before I know it, right?"

Castiel wriggles back from where Claire pushed him and nods, "You got it." He grabs Mr. Wiggles as he shuffles the rest of the way out from under the bed and pecks a kiss to him before tossing him back to Claire as she giggles at him.

 

[ ](https://ibb.co/WVm6dGs)

Dean's pretty sure he's in Heaven right now. Even if Heaven includes him wearing black-and-white checkered pants.

When he'd gotten the call from Rachel Salomaa, the manager of the only French restaurant in Kansas City, offering him a job as a sous chef with _Castiel Novak_ , one of the best executive chefs in the freakin' _country_ , he'd been ecstatic. Meeting Anna, the omega who's position he was taking for the remainder of her pregnancy and through her maternity leave, had just cemented his excitement when she welcomed him into the kitchen with a hug and a squeal. The rest of the staff was just as welcoming, even if Billie did scare the crap out of him.

After the first couple of nights learning how to work with Anna, he'd asked if she would mind if he brought in some tunes for the kitchen. Anna had pursed her lips in hesitation but agreed.

So, now Dean is working as Anna's sous while she takes care of the Executive's normal role and the entire kitchen is rocking out to his playlist of classic rock. The atmosphere is electric, and Dean revels in it.

Billie backs her way into the kitchen, both arms loaded with empty plates. Dean watches as she and another server dance around each other so that Billie can drop off the dirty dishes with the washing crew before she washes her hands and grabs table nine's order before bustling back out into the noisy dining room. Dean grins at the sight.

A towel smacks him in the hip as Anna's amused scent wafts over to him. "Whatcha grinnin' about there Dean?"

Dean shakes his head. "Just loving this while I can, Anna. This is a dream come true for me, ya know?"

"Awe, you're cute. I didn't know that your dream was to work in a hot ass kitchen with a ready-to-pop omega stinkin' up the place!"

Dean blows a raspberry at her and flicks his towel at her. "You are so not stinkin' up the place Anna. And besides, you work with _Castiel Novak_! One of the best French chefs out there! What's not to love about this place?"

A sour lemon smell wafts into the kitchen as Rachel pushes her way into the kitchen and glares at the two chefs. "Dean, that music is loud enough we can hear it through the dining area. Turn that crap down." She scowls and shoves her way back out of the kitchen, and Anna rolls her eyes, sticking her tongue out at the retreating beta.

Dean laughs and shakes his head before turning back to work.

 

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

The warm air of the restaurant washes over Castiel as he steps in. A small smile plays on his lips as he makes his way through the dining area before it fades away and is replaced by a scowl when he pushes his way into the kitchen.

A young man is dancing with Anna in the middle of the kitchen to what Castiel _thinks_ is music. The air in the kitchen is jubilant as the man twirls Anna, who has her head thrown back in laughter, around in the little station that he and Anna usually preside over the kitchen in.

"What the hell?"

The kitchen freezes, the only sound coming from the iPod dock that is set up next to the sous station. Anna throws a look over her shoulder, and she grins when she catches sight of Castiel.

"Cassie! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be taking time off?" She says as she works her way over to the alpha and throws her arms around his waist and hugs him to her. He buries his nose in her hair to hide a smile before he pulls back to look at the sandy-haired man at her workstation.

The young man breaths out a sigh before a smile lights up his face and he stumbles his way towards Anna and Castiel. "It's you," he breathes out as he approaches the pair. "It's really you. I can't believe it... Chef Novak, it's an honor to meet you, sir!" He hovers near the two chefs, wringing his hands together, and chews his bottom lip as he warily watches Castiel.

Anna leans away from the alpha and swats his shoulder. "Not that I'm not glad to see you Cassie, but what are you doing here? Where's Claire?"

Castiel tears his gaze away from the green-eyed man and looks down at Anna in confusion. "She's at home? Where else would she be?"

Anna rolls her eyes and shakes her head before she sighs. "Whatever Cas." She waves her hand at the young man who is still hovering near them. "This is Dean. I'm training him to take over for me so that we don't have to deal with any health code violations, and I can finally get off my feet." She waves Dean over to come to them and continues, "He's more than a match for me at the sous station. I think you'll work well together." She leans closer to Castiel before she murmurs in his ear, "I like this one Cas, and I think you will too. Please be nice."

Castiel narrows his eyes at her before he reaches a hand out to Dean. "Castiel Novak. Pleasure to meet you."

Dean lights up again and takes his hand between both of his own, shaking it animatedly. "Oh boy. It's such an honor to meet you, Chef. Your quail dishes should have sonnets written about them. Your _saffron sauce_ is to die for..." Dean continues in this vein until Castiel can wrench his hand out of the other man's grip. He wipes it down his shirt as he barks to the kitchen to get back to work before he turns on his heel and stalks back out of the kitchen.

He hunts down Rachel and grabs her by the upper arm, pulling her down the hallway that leads to the restrooms. "What the fuck Rachel? You couldn't even wait for me before hiring-" he waves his arm towards the kitchen, -"that? He's a disruption. He's-"

Rachel cuts him off, ripping her arm out of his grip. "I couldn't wait for you to come back, Castiel. You are not even supposed to be here right now for one, and two, he became available. I had to snatch him up before someone else got him. For God's sake, he was working at the hospital in that sorry excuse for a kitchen when I called him in for an interview." She takes a deep breath. "He's not a distraction, Castiel. He's exuberant, he's lively, and Anna and the rest of the staff love him. God knows we can do with some brightness in the kitchen with Anna about to leave."

Castiel scoffs and rolls his eyes. "Rachel, the only stipulation I had when I came to work for you was that I got to choose who I work with. You brought in someone who wasn't even working as a sous chef for god's sake! Why would you do that?"

Rachel pats his arm. "Dean was working at the hospital because he _chose_ to, Castiel. He's been offered several positions, even one as an executive chef."

Castiel eyes her suspiciously. "So why didn't he take it?"

"Because he wanted to work with _you,_ for some god-forsaken reason! Honestly, we were lucky to get him here; his work history is impeccable. Now excuse me, I have customers to tend to." Rachel brushes past before turning back to face him. "Give him a chance Castiel. We need someone in here to take Anna's position, yes, but further, I think he'll be a good fit here." She turns and walks away as Castiel stares after her, a curious scent of wilting honeysuckle in his nose.

Castiel manages to get back to the apartment an hour later. He drags himself over to the couch before slumping down onto it, burying his face in his hands.

He desperately wishes he could talk to Hannah, to talk to his sweet sister who so very well balanced out his thoughts. He sobs into his hands and lets his memories take him away.

 

[ ](https://ibb.co/CKFdDFM)

Sunlight filters through the apartment as Claire meanders through it, Mr. Wiggles clutched to her chest, looking for her uncle. Today was her first day at her new school and she didn't want to be late, even if she didn't want to go at all. She’s all ready to go and has on her favorite shirt and coolest sneakers on and even has the new backpack Uncle Cas bought for her on her back.

She pokes her head into Uncle Cas' bedroom to see that the bed is empty, already made, and hopes that means that he's already up and about. Closing the door, she makes her way down the hallway to the kitchen and grabs an apple out of the bowl on the table, slings her backpack off one shoulder and stuffs it in the bag, before placing Mr. Wiggles on her other arm and making her way through the rest of the apartment, finally finding Uncle Cas dead asleep on the couch.

He's drooling a little. Claire snickers to herself and hugs her stuffed cat tightly to her chest before wandering over to the couch. She sets her backpack down on the floor and stuffs Mr. Wiggles into it before she zips it back up. "Uncle Cas?" She lays the hand not holding the apple on his shoulder and shakes him lightly. "Uncle Cas, it's 7:30, and I'm supposed to be at school at 8. Uncle Cas, wake up."

Castiel snorts in his sleep and reaches out to pull her to his chest, nosing at her hair. Claire grins a little at the snuffling nose coming from the top of her head before she wriggles around again. She pokes Uncle Cas in the nose.

"Wake up sleepy-face.” No reaction, so she talks louder. “Uncle Cas! I gotta go to school!"

Castiel snorts again and sits up in a rush, clutching her to his chest. His eyes are wild, and his hair resembles a bird's nest as he looks around wildly, apparently confused as to how he came to be sleeping on the couch. "Wha?"

Claire giggles again and pokes her fingers into her uncle's ribs, tickling him. "It's Monday silly, time for me to go to school." She looks at the clock on her new phone. "I'm gonna be late too."

Castiel's already wild eyes widen as her words sink in. "Shit," he breathes as he surges up from the couch. "Claire, grab your things; we'll take a cab to get you to school as close to on time as possible." He stumbles around the living room grabbing his things as Claire grabs her backpack and slings it on and makes her way to the door before she realizes she doesn't have her favorite scarf and running back to her room.

"Claire! We're already running late; what are you doing?"

"I gotta have my scarf, Uncle Cas!"

Uncle Cas pokes his head into her room, watching her tear through the boxes that are still scattered around the room as she looks for the scarf Mom had made her last year. She knows it's here, she packed it herself, but she can't remember which box it's in and now she's starting to panic, what if she actually _didn't_ pack it and it wasn't here and...

She feels herself being pulled into a strong chest as she pants in fear. She couldn't have lost the scarf Mom gave her; she's already lost Mom and...

A sob rips out of her chest as she buries her nose into her uncle's neck and scents him. "I gotta find my scarf Uncle Cas, I gotta. I can't lose it, I gotta find it..." She sobs into his neck and winds her arms around his neck and clings to him.

The alpha pats her back and rumbles low in his chest. "It's okay, sweet girl. We'll find your scarf." He settles himself down next to the pile of boxes and pulls one over to them and starts rummaging through it. He holds up different scarves for her to inspect while she curls into his chest and neck and calms down. They finally locate the scarf in question - a knitted explosion of color that Mom had done by hand the year before – and make their way out of the apartment to hail a cab, dodging the creepy omega neighbor that insists on trying to talk to them as they make their way down the stairs.

The ride to school is full of Uncle Cas fretting over her, asking if she has everything she needs- _"Do you have paper? Pencils?" "Pretty sure they have that stuff at school Uncle Cas." "Right. Books?" "Those too, Uncle Cas."_ – before they finally pull up to the front steps and they tumble out of the cab and hurry inside. They make their way to the principal's office and are met with an assistant by the name of Alex who takes Claire to the side to make sure that she has everything. A blonde alpha comes out of the principal's office and walks over to her and Uncle Cas, the scent of amusement and irritation wafting from her.

Claire watches as she sticks her hand out to Uncle Cas and introduces herself as Ellen Harvelle. They chat for a few moments before she leads them down to her classroom so they can be introduced to her teacher, a charming omega by the name of Becky. She waves goodbye to her uncle as Miss Becky shows her to her seat and she settles into the desk, hunching down to make herself as small as she can while she gets Mr. Wiggles out of her backpack and clutches him tightly to her chest, burying her face into his soft fur, as Miss Becky starts the first lesson of the day.

**

Castiel paces back and forward in Donna's office, hands clenched in his hair. "I have no idea what I'm doing Donna. I'm not equipped to have a child. She won't eat anything I make for her, only nasty frozen meals that have no nutritional value that tastes like cardboard. She used to love eating what I made for her, and now she refuses to eat anything I make! There has to be someone better suited for taking care of her!"

Donna watches as Castiel follows his normal path in her office, bookcase to the end of the row of windows and back again. She mentally snorts to herself, noting that the alpha is possibly dealing with a little more stress than he's letting on, but just focusing on the issue of Claire not wanting to eat since that's something that he feels that he should be able to fix.

Donna leans back in her chair, fingers tapping out a rhythm on her notepad. "What does she normally eat? What did her mom make for her?"

Castiel snorts as he plops himself down on the couch. "Hannah didn't cook, bless her heart. She used to tell me that I got all of Mom's cooking skills and left her with none." He chuckles and looks over at Donna. "Her definition of dinner was whatever was in the kitchen at the time that wasn't spoiled yet."

Donna snorts out a laugh and shakes her head. "Sounds about like my definition of dinner. There's a reason that I prefer not to cook; it usually ends up in burnt pots and the fire department showing up to find out what part of the kitchen I set on fire this time." She chuckles and continues, "I much prefer my meals to be made when I order them instead of dealing with that."

Castiel nods his head in agreement. "I'm glad of it, Donna. It's because of people like you that I not only have a job but one that I love."

Donna grins. "So... Your ward won't eat. Let’s put our heads together and see if we can't figure out what she's trying to tell you with the fact that she won’t eat."

 

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

Castiel bustles around the kitchen as Claire sits at the table working on her homework. She thankfully hadn't fallen behind in the time she'd had to take off and was even a little ahead, judging from the way she kept muttering to herself as she made her way through the worksheets.

He and Donna had settled on a classic comfort dinner of chicken tenders and macaroni and cheese for his foray into tempting Claire to eat what he made for her. He took heed of her suggestions not to make it fancy, just a simple fare to hopefully catch Claire's appetite enough to eat. He hums to himself as he works on dinner; breading the chicken before flash frying them then putting them into the oven alongside the already bubbling cheese dish to finish cooking the rest of the way. The smells wafting around his kitchen make him smile, and he admits to himself that he had missed making simple foods that were nothing more than a translation for his desire to take care of his family.

Castiel sucks in a breath at that thought. _Family_. He has a family now, albeit a little one. Him and Claire against the world. He looks over at the little blonde sitting at the table and allows himself a smile as he lets the idea take root inside, waking up his alpha from where he slumbers in the back of his mind. A soft rumble agrees with Castiel that yes, he's very glad of his little family, regardless of how it came to be. It's little, and broken, but still good.

Dinner is met with an enthusiasm that shocks Castiel when Claire squeals and throws her arms around his neck, shoving her nose into his scent gland. Her happiness continues to light up the kitchen as they eat and clean up before they settle down on the couch to watch TV before bed. Claire snuggles up to him, clutching her toy.

He runs his fingers through her hair as they cuddle before he thinks about asking her about her day.

"How was school? Learn anything today?"

Claire leans back from where she's snuggled into his side and levels Castiel with a funny look. "It was my first day."

Castiel frowns playfully at her. "So, you didn't learn anything today?"

Claire bats at him with a hand before grinning. "Nah. Most of today I focused on trying to figure out what was what and where this school is at in classes. I'm ahead in a lot of things, but I'm way ahead in Reading class. They are reading books for _babies_ Uncle Cas!"

Castiel can feel amusement at her tone rising in him. "Books for babies, huh? What would _you_ be rather reading?" He asks, poking her nose.

Claire rolls her eyes hard enough it moves her whole head back and forth on his chest. "Duh, Harry Potter."

That startles a laugh out of Castiel. "Harry Potter? Hmm. Let me up Claire-bear." He pats her shoulder and gets up once she decides to un-koala from his side. She follows him as he steps into his bedroom and over to the shelves filled with books. He shuffles the books around – there are two rows of books on each shelf, front to back – until he finds the one he's looking for.

He turns and presents his niece with his paperback version of _Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone_. Claire squeals in surprise and grins up at Castiel before dragging him into her room.

"Sit down on the bed Uncle Cas! I'm going to get ready for bed, and then we can read it together!" She stops and turns back to Castiel, worrying her bottom lip. "I mean if you are okay with that..."

Castiel smiles widely at her. "Am I okay with that? Of course I'm okay with that! We can figure out how we want to read it when you get back." He makes shooing motions at her as she grins widely and runs off to brush her teeth and hair.

Castiel is over the moon at being able to share this with Claire. Harry Potter, while technically a child's book, is still one of his favorite book series to date and one he still re-reads regularly. He holds the tattered book in his lap for a few seconds before deciding to swap into his sleepwear and leaves the book on the bed as he dashes into his room to get himself ready for bed as well.

By the time he gets back into Claire's room, he can smell the sadness wafting out of the room. He enters the room slowly. "Claire, sweetheart, what's wrong?"

A hiccupping sob emerges from the pile of blankets on the bed. "Uncle Cas? I thought maybe you'd changed your mind since you weren't in here after I got done in the bathroom." Her blonde head pokes out from under the covers. "I thought you weren't coming back."

Guilt rolls through Castiel as he takes a mental step back and looks at what had just happened from Claire's point of view. "Oh Claire, no sweetheart. Sharing this book with you – any book really – is something I very much want to do. I'm sorry that I made you think otherwise." He sits down on the bed and pulls her into his lap. "I just thought it would be more fun to read this as a real bedtime story for both of us." He points down to his bumblebee covered sleep pants, drawing a wet giggle from his niece.

They settle in together after Castiel makes sure he has an alarm set for the next morning – no more being late to school! – and they take turns reading until they both fall asleep, content.


	5. Nocturne No.2

[ ](https://ibb.co/KmfK4fy)

Dean stares at the retreating back of one Chef Castiel Novak as the alpha stalks out of the kitchen, anger rolling off him and the scent of burnt sugar trailing behind him. His body was frozen in shock, a feeling that coursed through his veins after his very first encounter with Castiel.

 _Never meet your heroes, indeed,_ Dean thinks to himself.

Anna clears her throat behind him, and he turns off the music before he turns around to face her, shoulders hunched, and head bowed.

"Oh Dean," she says before rushing over to him and embracing him. "Dean, I'm sorry. Castiel is just...” she pulls back from him and sighs. “That's just how he is. It's nothing personal, I swear to you. I've known him for years, and he still treats me that way sometimes."

Dean splutters indignantly. How in the world can anyone be a jackass to this sweet red-head? He snorts to clear the remaining scent of burned sugar out of his nostrils before they get back to work, much more subdued than before.

He just hopes that he hasn't made a mistake leaving the hospital to take this job.

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

Tuesday morning a week later is a flurry of activity as Castiel hustles Claire through her morning routine and into the cab to get her to school on time. They part ways with a wave, and Castiel hustles back across town.

He stops in Winchester Flowers long enough to finalize the flower delivery schedule with Mary and then makes his way to the restaurant. He's finally been cleared by Rachel to return to work, and he wants to get started on the stack of paperwork he knows has multiplied on his desk before the weekly staff meeting.

The morning and early afternoon seemed to fly by as Castiel sits at his desk reviewing invoices and catering information. He also takes the time to review the social media sites that they had set up for the restaurant, even though he doesn't take part in any of the responses or posts. Just knowing what the masses think they are doing, what is right and wrong, is important and helps him plan for new dishes to be introduced.

Anna's happy orange blossom scent wafts in shortly before the omega herself barrels into his office. A whirlwind of red hair envelopes him as she hugs him from behind before smacking a kiss to his temple.

"Cassie, I'm so glad you are back. Rachel's been an absolute _bear_ to work with." She plops herself down into the chair beside his desk and props her feet up on his lap, groaning when Castiel works her shoes off and starts working at her feet and ankles. "I'll give you ‘till infinity to stop that. Oh my God, Cas that feels amazing, you don't even _know._ "

Castiel chuckles and digs his knuckle into a knot on the bottom of her foot. "You forget Anna; I did this more than a few times for Hann before..." He trails off for a second, sadness overwhelming him for a few seconds before he allows the happy memory to take him over once more. "I used to do this for Hannah when she got this far along too. She was a single mother-to-be, and she stayed with me through the whole pregnancy after her good-for-nothing knot head left her."

"Well, I'm glad she let you practice on her then so that I may reap the rewards." She pokes him in the belly with the foot not currently occupied. "So, really, Cas, how are you doing?"

Castiel shrugs. "I miss her, Anna. She's my sister and was – is – a part of my soul. But having Claire here helps. More than I thought it would. I still don't think I'm cut out for kids, but we are both trying. Donna's helped a lot with that, actually."

Anna nods before she pulls her feet out of his lap. "I'm glad sweetie. And as much as I would rather you continue working your magic on my frankly overworked feet, we have a staff meeting to attend, so we should probably get out there before Billie decides to follow through on her threat of maiming Rachel."

Castiel snorts. "One could only hope."

[ ](https://ibb.co/WVm6dGs)

Dean slides into the back of the kitchen as the staff meeting starts. He wasn't late, but he also didn't want to draw Castiel's attention any more than necessary yet. After the fiasco last week, he's decided to keep his head down and work as hard as he can to prove to the chef that Rachel hadn't made a mistake in hiring him to take Anna's spot while she focused on growing that pup in her belly the rest of the way and then taking the much needed time to bond properly with them.

Prep starts not long after the meeting. The forecast for the night is nice for this time of year, so they were expecting a decent crowd for dinner before the masses moved along to whatever evening entertainment they had planned. The kitchen is filled with the sounds of people preparing different types of foods to make the dishes just that much quicker to prepare. He relaxes as the staff chatters away to each other; peeling, chopping, packing away back in the crisper. Over to the other side of the kitchen, the servers sat together gossiping as they make sure that the linens are clean and rolling the silverware up in the maroon napkins.

Dean catches sight of Castiel out of the corner of his eye. He turns to watch as the dark-haired man ducks out the back and waits for him to come back, but after a few minutes of waiting and he doesn't return he shrugs as he continues to follow instructions from Anna and whoever else needs help.

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

Castiel manages to make it to the school just before Claire comes tromping down the stairs, Mr. Wiggles in tow. She grins wide at him and throws her arms around his waist as he gets them into the cab. They are quite on the ride home, but he tries to strike up a conversation as they enter the apartment.

"How'd it go today, Claire?"

She shrugs before slinging her backpack onto the kitchen table. "It was okay. My reading teacher doesn't believe that we are reading Harry Potter though." She wrinkles her nose and continues, "Dunno why it's so hard to believe, but whatever." She climbs up into the chair and drags her homework out and spreads it out across the table.

The doorbell rings out through the apartment, and Castiel hurries to the door, admitting a short curly-haired brunette. "Meg?"

She snaps her gum a few times before answering. "You expectin' someone else there, Clarence?" He raises an eyebrow at her, and she huffs. "Yeah, yeah Alpha, I'm Meg. Agency said that you needed someone to stay with your kid tonight?"

Castiel narrows his eyes at her but opens the door wide enough so she can step into the apartment. She whistles as she turns in a circle to take in the apartment. "Nice digs. Alright, so where's the kid?"

Castiel pinches the bridge of his nose before leading the way into the kitchen. "Claire, this is Meg. She's going to stay with you tonight so I can go back to work." He squats down next to her and takes her face in his hands. "I know you don't want a babysitter, but I can't bring you to work with me. I'll see you in the morning and ride with you to school though."

Claire nods before she presses her forehead to his. "Okay, Uncle Cas. Have a good night at work."

Castiel kisses her forehead and rubs his wrist on her cheek before standing up. "Remember, if you need _anything,_ call me. I put my cell as well as the kitchen's number in your phone under my name, so if you call me and I don't answer, don't hesitate to call the kitchen line, okay?"

Claire nods again and smiles at him. "I'll be okay. Go! You have people to feed."

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

The new chef has his infernal music playing again, and the kitchen is packed with servers waiting for their table number to be called. Anna and Dean are at the sous station bouncing back and forth with each other, dancing to the music as they cook.

"How do you want the fish prepped tonight, Cas?" Anna asks over her shoulder. Castiel raises his eyebrows at her as Dean interjects.

"Tell them they are going to be served to the most important people they will ever meet. And then whatever else Chef Novak wants."

Anna snickers and swats his shoulder before turning back to Castiel. He waves at her, letting her decide how to cook them for the night. She shrugs at him before turning back to the fish, her voice low as she shows Dean how he prefers them to be prepared and cooked.

Castiel shakes his head and continues working on his dish, a porterhouse for table twenty-two, well done. _What a waste of good steak_ , he muses to himself as he watches the steak carefully to keep it from charring.

A breeze skims past his arm as Dean steps up to him. "Do you not enjoy music, Chef?"

Castiel shoots the taller man a glance before focusing on the steak again. It's almost done, and he wants to make sure he pulls it off the fire to keep it from becoming even more overdone. "I enjoy music just fine. I'm just not sure you can call this music."

Dean laughs. "Aw, c'mon, it’s not that bad. This is classic rock after all!"

"It's also very distracting to my staff."

Dean rolls his eyes and flicks off the radio as he shuffles back over to Anna when a blonde server rushes by. "Dean! You were totally right about AC/DC. It makes for great dancing music. The club was hoppin' Sunday night!"

Dean winks at her with a smirk on his face. "Of course, I was right! I been listenin' to this music all my life; I'd never steer you wrong!"

Anna pushes out of the station with a full plate of fish and roasted potatoes before making a beeline for their shared office. "Oh, dear God, my feet are killing me. Dean, you better show me you know what you are doing with that fish, I'm going to need another portion after this one. Eating for two, you know."

Dean hums at her in the affirmative while Castiel shakes his head and says, "Anna, you've always eaten two helpings of the bass when you can get away with it. Don't go blaming the pup for your over-eager appetite."

Anna sticks her tongue out at him before digging into her dinner. "Not my fault! We make a damn good bass dish, and you know it!"

Castiel grins at her as he flips the pork chop in his pan.

Dean's amusement tickles past his nose, and he looks over his shoulder at the young man, who is watching him and Anna with a small smile on his face. He notices Castiel looking at him and the smile slides off his face before he turns back to the fish, shoulders slumping.

Castiel realizes then that Dean must think he hates him after the display in the kitchen the other night. He sighs and turns his attention back to his pan, plating the pork chop up for the line chefs to finish before he turns back to Dean. He lays a soft hand on Dean's shoulder.

"Dean, I apologize for my behavior the other night." Castiel swallows and looks at the floor. "The last month hasn't been easy for me, and the shock of seeing someone new in my kitchen threw me off. It's not an excuse, but I want you to know it has nothing to do with you, or your skills as a chef."

Dean flicks a glance over to Castiel. "Thanks, man. That actually means a lot." He focuses back on the fish before he continues, "Been looking forward to getting to work with you for a while if I'm honest. You kinda inspired me to start cookin'." He shrugs his shoulders. "Food's my way of taking care of people, ya know?"

Castiel nods in agreement. "I do," he rumbles as he turns away and starts on the next order. They work in companionable silence for a while before Dean flicks the music back on at a lower volume than before. Castiel smiles as the symphonic version of Metallica's _Hero of the Day_ plays softly in the space the three currently share.

[ ](https://ibb.co/WVm6dGs)

Dean lays in bed staring at the ceiling of his apartment and tries to figure out what exactly had changed in the kitchen that night. Castiel was still a hard ass, but something had changed between the two of them as the night had progressed.

He runs the night over in his head repeatedly, examining it from every angle. He'd been embarrassed at getting caught watching the way Anna and the chef interacted and wondered again if they were mated. He couldn't make out what Castiel was, let alone his scent, but he finds himself hoping that Cas isn't mated to Anna.

God, he feels like a jerk just thinking about that.

He flops around, trying to find a comfortable spot and chase away the memory of those blue eyes and the just-fucked dark brown hair. He rolls his eyes at himself. He doesn't even know if Cas swings his way, let alone if he's mated or not for fuck's sake, and here he is getting all mushy over the guy!

He sits up and punches his pillow into what he hopes is submission before he lets himself flop down on his back, a whooshing sound coming from his nest of down blankets and sheets. He groans and scrubs his hands down his face before letting the flop back down to his sides, staring up at the ceiling. He's never reacted to anyone like this, especially someone he can't even smell. Castiel's scent is so muted that all he can get off the guy is that burnt sugar smell he gets when he's peeved, and it's starting to drive him a little crazy wonder what the guy _actually_ smells like.

But then again, he can't blame the guy if he's on suppressants or something since Dean himself is on suppressants as well and has been since they left Lawrence. His justification to his mother has been that he wants to be on stable ground before he stops taking them again and he just...

...never stopped taking them.

Dean sits up in bed and grabs his phone, thumbing over to his favorites list and stabbing at the top entry as he squints at the brightly lit screen.

"'Ello?"

"Hey Char, I hate to do this at-" he pulls the phone away from his ear and winces when he sees the time and continues sheepishly, "-uh, 5 am, but uh, what would happen if I were just to stop taking my suppressants all at once?"

Charlie groans and Dean can hear the sheets rustling around as she squirms around in bed. "For Pete's sake Winchester, you called me at the asscrack of dawn for _that_?"

Dean winces again. "In my defense, I didn't realize how early it was. I'm still getting used to the late hours we work, ya know?"

Charlie snorts. "Alright fine. I'll let you off this one time." She yawns, and Dean finds himself fighting back a yawn as well. "First off, the strength of meds you are on, you can't just quit cold turkey buddy. If you do, your first heat might land you in the hospital, and if I find out you came into my ER by pulling a stunt like that, I'll kill you myself."

Dean feels his eyes widen and he swallows. "Noted."

"So yeah, no quitting cold turkey, and you should probably talk to your doc and see if they want to change you to a lower dosage first or just wean you off of what you are already on." She yawns again before continuing, "Now, if your crisis is dealt with, can I go back to sleep? I just got off a twelve that turned into an eighteen-hour shift thanks to a three-car crash."

"Yeah, no, I'm good Char. Get some sleep, and I'll see you Sunday for brunch okay? Mom's missing you and wants to take us both out."

Charlie makes a happy sound. "'Kay, that sounds good I sleep now."

Dean chuckles as he hangs up and places his phone back on the table beside his bed before changing his mind and placing a reminder to call his GP later that day. He finally feels like he's on solid enough ground to be comfortable going off his meds.

Time to let himself be who he really is and stop hiding.

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

Castiel is desperately trying to remember where he put his umbrella when a knock sounds at the door. Claire pops her head into his bedroom.

"Uncle Cas, someone's at the door."

"Yes, I know, Claire, but I'm trying to find my umbrella so that we don't get soaked to the bone getting to the cab or you getting into school today. Do you mind answering it?"

Claire narrows her eyes at her uncle. "Pretty sure I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."

Castiel looks over the mattress of his bed and quirks an eyebrow at her. "Well, considering no one can get in the building without being buzzed in, I'm sure it’s going to be at least someone I know in passing. Please find out who it is while I locate the umbrella."

Claire rolls her eyes before running down the hall, backpack bouncing up and down and blonde hair flying behind her. Castiel leans back down to peer under his bed, finally locating the infernal umbrella shoved behind the summer clothes he had stored away. He swipes it out from under the bed and clambers to his feet as Michael's scent hits his nose. The alpha rolls his eyes and growls a little under his breath as he makes his way into the living room to see Michael leaning down on the back of his couch, chin in hand, talking to Claire.

"Michael. What can I do for you?"

The omega hastily stands up and faces Castiel. "Oh, I just came over to see if you have any coffee I can borrow. I was telling Claire about how I would have my boys this weekend and-"

Castiel huffs and walks into the kitchen, cutting Michael off. He grabs the coffee tin off the counter and leans back out to ask, "Ground or beans?"

"Uh, g-ground, please. I don-"

Castiel goes back into the kitchen and roots around until he finds a sandwich bag. He fills it about halfway before squeezing the air out of it and sealing it, then stalks back into the living room, shoving the baggie at Michael. "Come on Claire. We're going to be late."

He pointedly holds the door open, holding Claire by his side as Michael exits the apartment. Then Castiel herds his niece out of the apartment before shutting the door, making sure it's latched and locked. "Have a good day, Michael," he says as they head down the stairs and out the front door.

Only to realize that he'd left the umbrella in the apartment.

Castiel sighs in consternation before looking down at his niece, who is looking up at him like he's grown a second head.

"Uncle Cas, why were you so angry at your neighbor?"

He blinks at her question. "I wasn't angry, Claire, just irritated that he saw fit to invite himself into our apartment. He's never been welcome inside before and should have known better than to come in, let alone drape himself over our furniture like he did. It's rude."

Claire looks out at the street and chews her lip for a few seconds as she mulls this information over. "Oh, that's because of the whole scent thing, isn't it? Cause the house smells mostly like you, and now a little bit like me too, and you don't want someone else coming in and trying to cover up all those scents, right?" She looks up at him again as she slips her hand into his.

Castiel nods in agreement. "That's exactly right, Claire. Our home should always smell like us, and maybe a little bit like people we trust sometimes, but mostly like your..." he trails off for a moment, then clears his throat. "Your home should smell like your family."

"And you and me are family now, right? So, it should smell like us all the time."

He squeezes her hand and smiles down at her. "That's right Claire-bear. That's exactly right."

The honking of their Uber interrupts them, and they dash out into the rain, laughing before they climb into the backseat in a heap. The rest of the ride is spent talking about what kinds of scents mean different things, how strongly the different sub-genders scents can be, and how beta's sense of smell is a little more muted compared to the other two sub-genders (this added in by the beta Uber driver). Once they pull up the school, Claire climbs out of the car and waves goodbye to Castiel before the driver takes him back to the apartment to drop him off.

He waves at the driver after giving him a tip for the lively conversation before he drags himself back up the stairs. As much as he'd been looking forward to the farmer's market today, he decides to skip it today thanks to the cold downpour and general exhaustion weighing his body down. He strips off his wet clothing before dropping back down onto his mattress, finding the forgotten umbrella once again when it digs into his ribs, and burrows under his sheets before dropping off, dreaming of green eyes and honeysuckle flowers.

His alarm wakes him up a few hours later, and he cracks open an eye to glare at his phone before snaking his arm out to silence it. He grumbles face down into his pillow before pushing himself up and out of bed, scrubbing at his face to clear the cobwebs from his brain. He sits up and chews on his lip a little as he thinks over what to do with Claire while he's at work for the night.

By the time he got home last night, Claire had barricaded herself in her room with a chair propped up under the handle, and Meg was nowhere to be seen. He'd finally convinced the young girl to open the door for him, and she had explained to him that Meg just didn't smell right and made her feel unsettled, and he promised her that Meg wouldn't come back.

Not willing to let her stay home by herself well into the wee hours of the morning, Castiel decides that she'll have to come with him to work that night and entertain herself in his office until he can find a replacement. He gets up and crosses over into Claire's room and gathers up one of her pillows and a blanket, then searches unsuccessfully for Mr. Wiggles. He sits back on his heels when he realizes that the cat isn't in the room and wonders if Claire had been taking him to school with her. He smiles to himself and shakes his head, then gets up to gather the bedding and an old cot to take with him to the restaurant.

By the time he makes it in, prep is in full swing, and he stashes away Claire's things before setting the alarm on his phone to remind him when he needs to leave to go pick up Claire. The kitchen is quiet today, just murmurs of conversations and the muted scents of food and friends working together.

Dean slides over to him as he focuses on the inventory of meat in the cooler. "You plannin' on staying the night, Cas?"

Castiel looks over at Dean with an eyebrow raised. "I wasn't planning on it, no. But my niece will be here tonight because I can't find a replacement sitter on short notice. I thought bringing in a blanket and pillow for her would make her more comfortable than sleeping on the floor or hunched over my desk."

Dean's eyebrows shoot up. "Why you bringin' her here man? Why doesn't she stay with her folks?"

A sharp pain lances through Castiel's heart, and he looks away. "Her mother is dead, and her father has never been in the picture." He swallows and hears Dean take a sharp breath. "I'm the only family she has left."

Dean runs his hand across his lips. "Shit man, I'm sorry. That's gotta be rough for both of you."

Castiel nods. "It's been hard, yes. But we are getting there, I think." He feels his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulls it out to silence the alarm. "I'll be back in about 30 minutes. I need to go pick her up from school."

Dean has already turned back to the sous station and waves over his shoulder to let him know he heard. "Got it, man. See you in a few."

[ ](https://ibb.co/WVm6dGs)

Dean runs his hand over his face again. Damn it all to hell; he'd really stuck his foot in his mouth with that crack about Cas' niece staying with her folks. It's not like he'd _known,_ but he still felt like a dick.

A towel flicks at his hip as Anna passes him. "Hey, grumpy, whatcha thinkin' about?"

Dean grins at her. "Ah, you know. World peace and stuff. The usual."

Anna rolls her eyes and scoffs. "Yeah right, I can smell the pensiveness rolling off you from here, smart ass. Spill."

Dean ducks his head and rubs the back of his neck. "I uh, kinda made an ass out of myself with Cas. Didn't realize that his niece was living with him cause her mom died. Questioned him about why he was bringin' her here instead of having her stay with her folks."

Anna winces. "Oof, yeah that'd do it." She snaps his hip again. "But you didn't know, and I'm actually kinda excited. I haven't seen her in ages, so it'll be nice to have her visit." She looks down at her belly and smooths a hand over it. "Plus, I get some more practice in before this one comes."

Dean's smile softens. "How much longer?"

"Oh, not much now. Probably a week. So, you better be ready to take over for me and deal with the big bad chef all by yourself! I won't be around to help much longer." She looks up and winks at him, and Dean laughs.

"Alright baby-mama, what's on the menu for tonight? What can I do to help so you can put those lovely feet up?"

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

Castiel walks back into a very different kitchen than the one he left; Claire crowding close behind him. Dean and Billie are dancing around to another one of his classic rock songs as the rest of the wait staff cheer them on. Prep is done for the night from the looks of it, and Anna is sitting down near the sous station in the rolling chair from his office. Claire uses him as a shield, peeking out from behind him.

"Is it always this noisy?" she asks with a tremor in her voice.

Castiel looks down at her and smiles. "It is now that Dean's started working here. Are you okay?"

Claire looks back over the exuberant staff, more pairs having joined in while they were talking, and takes a deep breath. "What if they don't like me?" she asks in a tiny voice.

Castiel sinks to a knee beside her and takes her by the shoulders and rubbing his wrist on her neck. "Sweetheart, why would you wonder that? You are the best Claire-bear ever."

She shrugs a shoulder and chews her lip as she looks away. "The kids don't talk to me at school. I just..." she trails off and shrugs her shoulder again.

Castiel sighs and draws her in for a hug. "Well, you already know Anna and she likes you very much. I can't imagine anyone here not liking you. Just wait and see."

Anna squeals from behind him and he can hear his chair being rolled over to join them. "Claire! Come here and hug me, please. I haven't seen you in forever!"

Claire's face breaks out into a wide grin as she launches herself at Anna. "Auntie Anna, it’s only been a year! Mom and me saw you last time we visited!" She snuggles into Anna's side and hugs her as tightly as she can around her big belly.

"Well, that's still too long. I missed you little bear," Anna snarks back before she buries her nose into Claire's hair. She pulls back and squares Claire up in front of her. "Now. We are going to go take over your uncle's office and get all caught up, and I'll help you work on your homework if you want me to. I'm going to leave the new kid out here on his own to let him get used to working by himself with Castiel before he has to do it for real. What do you say?"

Claire nods enthusiastically and runs behind Anna, and they take off through the kitchen to enact said takeover of Castiel's office. He watches them go with a smile on his face.

Dean draws to a stop behind Castiel. "She's cute as hell man. Where'd she get the blonde hair though?"

Castiel stands up and brushes his knees off. "No idea. Blue eyes run in the family though, so she's not too far off the family tree." He looks over at Dean as he catches a whiff of that honeysuckle scent again. He twitches his nose as his alpha wakes up a little and rumbles.

Odd.

He shakes himself and gets an odd look from Dean. He shrugs at his new sous chef before they grin at each other and head over to their stations as the first orders of the night come in.


	6. Sweet Home Alabama

[ ](https://ibb.co/2Yt5Jnx)

Holy _mother_ Dean is starving. He lets Cas know that he's going to take a quick break to eat before grabbing a skillet, throwing some basil, garlic, and the sauce they are using for the chicken parm in it, slapping it down on a burner. Grabbing a bowl, he snatches up some of the fresh pasta before the line cook can smack him for it, and scuttles back to the skillet, tossing the sauce a few times before dumping the whole thing over the noodles and mixing it up. He retreats from the cooking station and sees Claire sitting on one of the prep tables and crosses over to her, climbing up and sitting next to her after grabbing a fork from a passing server.

"What's up, pup?" he asks as he settles down and starts twirling the noodles around on his fork. She glances over at him before pursing her lips and looking back over at Cas. Dean looks up too, seeing the chef bounce around in the center of the kitchen, directing the entire staff like a conductor would a symphony. Dean smiles around the food in his mouth and flicks a glance back over to the pup next to him and swallows the bite.

"But really kiddo, how you doing?" he presses. He can smell the sadness rolling off her as she watches her uncle.

Claire shrugs a shoulder. "You know. Dead mom. An uncle who has no idea what to do with a kid. I'm great." She eyes his bowl hungrily before flicking her eyes back up to his and looking away again.

Cas calls out to Dean to prep a quail, so Dean hands his bowl to Claire before hopping down off the prep table. "Hold this for me will ya? Gotta go make someone else's dinner before I can get back to my own." He scuttles off before she can answer him, and he gets to work cooking the bird as he watches her out of the corner of his eye.

Claire looks down at the bowl in her lap and wrinkles her nose, but then dips her head down to the food and takes a tentative sniff. Surprise washes over her face as she draws in a deeper breath. Dean pretends that he's focused on the quail in the skillet in front of him and fights to keep the grin off his face as he watches the youngster take a tentative bite of his dinner.

Her eyes close in bliss with the first small bite, and then all bets are off. She digs into the pasta with vigor, shoveling it into her mouth as fast as she can without choking herself.

Dean feels Castiel step up to him and looks over at the chef. His eyes are shiny, and he nods gratefully at Dean before saying in a low voice, "Thank you, Dean. She doesn't eat enough at home since I'm not all that well versed in making child-friendly foods yet. This is the most she's eaten since..." He trails off before shaking his head and shooting another smile at Dean before he goes back to his grill top to finish whatever he was working on.

Dean ducks his head and grins as he finishes up the quail and plates it for the line cooks to finish filling the dish. He washes his hands before making a beeline back to where Claire is sitting and hauls himself back up on the table. "Didja save any for me?"

Claire looks like she's just gotten caught with a hand in a cookie jar as she hands the bowl back over to Dean. He softly chucks her under the chin and tells her, "Hey, makes me glad that someone else likes my cooking around here. I'll be glad to share the rest of it with you if you grab another fork."

Claire's eyes go wide, and she jumps off the table and runs over to where they have the silverware sitting, snatches up a rolled-up set, and runs back over to the table, clambering back up before settling herself down snuggled into Dean's side. The pair is silent as they demolish the food, but Claire smells happy.

Dean looks up to see Castiel watching them, a small smile on his lips and his blue eyes twinkling. He nods his head to Dean, and Dean winks back before tucking back into his food.

[ ](https://ibb.co/WVm6dGs)

The rest of the night finds Dean doing whatever he can think of to draw Claire out of her shell and keep her entertained. He knows that a commercial kitchen is nowhere for a pup to be, but he's had to drag Sam to places worse than this while his mom was working, and his dad was passed out drunk or off on a bender somewhere, so he has a few tricks up his sleeves to keep her entertained.

He teaches her how to strip basil properly, sits with her as he peels potatoes, lets her watch him as he plates up all manner of dishes, and eventually sets her up with a stool right next to where he works, right under where the kitchen's phone is mounted. He finally gets her talking, and from then on, she's a bright little chatterbox, going on about whatever pops into her head. Dean smiles, being reminded of Charlie and her chatterbox tendencies. Claire, Anna, and he keep an animated stream of conversation going between the three of them for a few hours, occasionally pulling other staff members into their conversation.

Dean's omega is in heaven.

Hell, Dean himself is kinda is too.

It's not that kids have never crossed his mind but seeing as he's yet to find someone who he'd be willing to call "mate", he figures he's still a while away from having his own. And with no nieces or nephews yet since Sam is still wrapping up his schooling, he rarely gets a chance to interact with kids. So, being able to hang out with Claire soothes something in his soul that he hadn't realized needed soothing.

The small smiles that Cas keeps shooting at him don't help. Dean is starting to see a side of Castiel that he’s pretty sure the chef doesn't let others see, a softer side of him, and Dean can't help but preen a little with each smile.

The night wears on, and Dean finally takes pity on Claire when he catches her drooping more than a little and swaying on the stool. He scoops her up and takes her into Castiel's office, nesting her down onto the little cot that she and Anna had set up earlier in the night. He pats down the blankets at her sides and deposits a stuffed cat that's seen better days under her chin before he drops a kiss down on her forehead without thinking.

He goes still, and his eyes widen in panic before he catches a whiff of Claire's happy scent curling around the office as she snuggles her toy to her chest and drops off to sleep. Dean backs out of the office quickly, mentally slapping himself for forgetting who's pup Claire is.

Or rather, who's pup she _isn't_.

Dean feels his mood drop as he joins the rest of the staff again but pastes on a fake smile as they all get back to work.

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

It's late, as usual, by the time that Castiel gets home, but as he carries his niece into her room, he realizes that he feels more at peace than he’s felt since Hannah died.

Watching Claire interact with Dean and Anna throughout the night had lifted his mood more than he had thought possible. Seeing her come out of her shell and catching snippets of her happy scent over the food smells made him warm inside.

And watching her lean into Dean...

Castiel is not a stupid man. He recognizes that a low level of attraction has been simmering under his skin for the green-eyed man since the first meeting but watching him with Claire brings out that attraction to full force. Dean is an inherently good man, and it's obvious that he has at least a little bit of experience with children, judging by the way that he was able to get Claire to open up to him tonight.

He tucks Claire into her bed, drawing the covers up to her chin before he brushes a kiss across the crown of her head. His nose twitches as he catches the faintest hint of honeysuckle and leather, but the scent fades away before he can register that it was there in the first place.

Castiel slips out of Claire's room and down the hall, shedding his outer layers as he goes. He needs to get up early tomorrow so that he can go to the farmer's market before the crowds, so he forgoes a shower, stripping down to just his boxers before slipping between the sheets of his bed. He makes sure that his alarm is set on his phone before shifting down into his pillow. His mind wanders as he starts slipping off to sleep, and he thinks of constellations of freckles as he drifts off.

The tone of his alarm wakes him up just a few hours later, and he rolls out of bed, eyes squinted against the light. He stumbles down the hallway and into the kitchen to start his coffee maker then shuffles over to the laundry room to pull on a clean pair of jeans and a button-down shirt. He rolls the sleeves up to his elbows as he waits for the coffee to finish filling his mug up and then creeps back down the hallway to Claire's room.

He knocks lightly, and when Claire calls out a soft greeting, he pokes his head into the room. "I was wondering if you would want to go down to the farmer's market with me today; see where I get some of the things that we cook at the restaurant."

Claire's face lights up. "Really? That would be awesome Uncle Cas!" She tumbles out of bed and dashes past him to the bathroom. Castiel chuckles to himself as he sips his coffee and makes his way back to his room to get himself ready to go.

They head out fifteen minutes later and hail a cab to take them to the market. With it being so early in the morning, the atmosphere is subdued, but Claire's head is on a swivel as she tries to take in everything at the same time. She holds Castiel's hand tightly, likely not wanting to get separated from him in the crowd, but her excitement is obvious to everyone, and the pair get sunny smiles from every vendor they pass.

Castiel points out every vendor they get their supplies from and answers every question that she comes up with as they wander through the pop-up tents. As they get closer to the food trucks and plants, a happy shout startles them.

"Castiel! It's so good to see you!"

A blur of blonde curly hair enters his line of vision as he recognizes Mary Winchester's scent. He hugs her tightly with his free arm and rumbles low in his chest in greeting. He introduces Claire to Mary, and the trio heads over to Mary's pop-up tent as they chatter back and forth.

"So, how's Dean working out for you in the kitchen, Castiel?"

Castiel raises an eyebrow. "How do you know Dean?"

Mary looks at him in shock before she snorts out a laugh. "Oh gods, you have no idea what his last name is, do you?" Castiel shakes his head slowly, so she continues, "He's my son, Alpha."

Castiel's jaw sags open in shock.

Mary's laugh peals through the market, high and ringing. She finally gets herself under control, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "Oh, that's priceless, Alpha. The look on your face." She chuckles again.

Castiel can feel his cheeks heating up in embarrassment and feels a little twinge of anger. It's not like swapping last names is common in his kitchen, since they all are on a first name basis. He can feel his alpha's hackles start to rise in displeasure before Mary lays a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Castiel. I shouldn't have laughed at you." Mary looks at him expectantly, and continues, "I've just heard nothing out of my son but 'Cas this' and 'Cas that' ever since he started working for you. I truly had no idea that he'd not introduced himself to you."

"Oh. Well, we work together every night, but the kitchen is all on a first name basis, and since I didn't hire him, I was unaware of his last name."

Understanding flashes across Mary's face. "Then allow me to apologize again, Castiel. I truly meant no offense." She turns and starts gathering flowers and arraigning them into two bright bouquets, and hands one each to Castiel and Claire. They chat for a little while longer before she shoos them out of her way and toward the food vendors. Castiel waves goodbye to her, Claire mirroring him, and they fall into a conversation about what is considered appropriate breakfast food from the options in front of them. They finally settle on breakfast corn dogs – a breakfast sausage dipped in pancake batter and served with real maple syrup – and they wander through the rest of the market with sticky hands and sated bellies.

Finally, tired of the market, they make their way over to the small park next to where all the vendors are set up, and the pair walks aimlessly through the greenway, taking in the scents of the people around them. They chatter about nonsense, and when Claire gets tired, they sit down and make up stories about the people that pass them.

It's the best Saturday that Castiel can remember having.

They eventually decide to head home so that Castiel can take a nap before work that night, and Claire begs him to let her go with him. She wears him down through the ride home until he finally relents. He knows that, eventually, he's going to have to find a sitter that can stay with Claire so that she has some semblance of normalcy and her grades don't slip -she is only nine, after all- but he hasn’t seen her this happy about anything since Hannah passed away, and he loathes to be the one taking that away from her.

The night in the kitchen is much of the same as the previous, with Anna just as happy to mother hen Claire and Dean content to teach Claire all manner of things in the kitchen. The whole place seems just that much brighter with his niece present, so much so that even Rachel ends up cracking a smile or two.

While he's taking a break, Claire runs over to him and tugs on his apron, asking him to lean over so she can talk in his ear.

"Uncle Cas, you aren't working tomorrow, right?"

Castiel nods, "That's right, its Sunday, so we are closed."

A mischievous look crosses Claire's face. "So that means Dean isn't working tomorrow either, right?"

Castiel narrows his eyes at his niece, who gives him a big smile. "That would be correct. Why do you ask?"

Claire shuffles her feet a little, looking down at the floor. "Cause I kinda want Dean to make dinner for us tomorrow, if that's okay? He already said it would be fine with him, but I had to ask you first."

Castiel raises an eyebrow and shoots a look over at Dean, who whips his head away and focuses on the dish that he's preparing with Anna. "Did he now?" He looks down at Claire again, who is looking up at him, chewing on her bottom lip and a pleading look on her face. "Alright. Dean and I will talk about it later and see what we can come up with. Will that be okay with you?"

Claire jumps up and down a few times, clapping her hands. "Yes, Uncle Cas! Thank you so much!" She throws her arms around his shoulders and scents him for a few seconds before dropping back down to the floor and running off to join Dean again. Castiel watches with bemusement as she climbs up onto what's become her stool, and Dean shoots him a sheepish grin.

Castiel shakes his head with a smile before he returns to work.

Later, Dean slides up to him and murmurs, "Sorry about that, Cas. I didn't expect her to ambush you like that. She just brought up that she really likes Italian food and I mentioned that it's one of the things that I like to make the most. Got a lot of practice with it when I was a kid."

Castiel shrugs a shoulder. "It's alright, Dean. Do you want to do this at your place or mine?"

Dean hums in thought. "Your place would probably be better since it's a school night. That way if she gets tired before we do, she can go to bed, and you wouldn't have to cut out early."

Castiel hums his agreement. "That's fine with me. Do you need me to have anything prepared?"

Dean waves him away. "Nah. I'll bring everything with me that I don't think you already have. Claire wants us to make dinner for you since she thinks that you cook too much for other people and never get a chance to appreciate someone else cookin' for ya properly."

Castiel barks a laugh. "She isn't wrong, you know? I don't remember the last time I sat down to a meal that I didn't prepare myself."

Dean laughs and slaps him on the shoulder. "Well then, let me and my apprentice over there take over and feed you. I promise it'll be worth it." He glides away again and is drawn back into conversation with Anna and Claire. Castiel can smell Claire and Anna's combined happiness, and for a fleeting second, thinks that he also smells honeysuckle yet again before it fades away.

He begins to wonder what Dean smells like. He's never actually caught a whiff of it and assumes the man is on some kind of suppressants. He daydreams as he cooks and starts thinking of what his future might hold now that Claire is in his life.

Before Claire, he truly thought that he would never have a family. And while he desperately wishes that Hannah were still here, he no longer thinks that Claire would be better off with someone else. His moods have started to stabilize enough that even Donna had commented on it, and his alpha rarely rears its head enough for his calm façade to break. And if he's starting to harbor a secret crush on his newest co-worker, well...

No one else needs to know about that but him.

Not long after ten pm Claire starts drooping on her stool again, and the scene from the previous night is repeated as Dean carries her to Castiel's office and tucks her in. He catches Dean brushing her hair back and pressing a kiss to her forehead. Claire's hand shoots out to catch Dean's as he starts to leave the office, and he settles back down on the floor next to her and talks to her until she truly falls asleep, her nose buried in his wrist.

Something twists in Castiel's chest as he watches, and his alpha rumbles in the back of his mind.

Dean looks so right next to Claire, fitting with her like a missing puzzle piece.

Castiel wonders if Dean isn't also one of his missing puzzle pieces as he continues to watch him gently sweep his fingers across the top of Claire's head. He knows that Dean truly cares for Claire, and he wonders...

Could the beautiful green-eyed omega also come to care for her uncle, too?

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

They end up not being able to get together the next day, Dean having to beg for a rain check since his mother needed urgent help at the flower shop. Claire pouted but quickly brightened at the prospect of a better thought out evening when Castiel pointed out to her that they could spend the next week trading ideas back and forth to make the night as memorable as possible. They spend the rest of the Sunday together in the living room, Claire coloring and Castiel reading with the television in the background.

Monday dawns with Castiel getting Claire off to school, then dropping by the restaurant to meet with Anna and his contact for truffles.

Gabriel is an odd duck, but he has a knack for finding truffles in the oddest of places, and he's never once brought them an inferior product. He's fair with his prices, and genuinely interesting to chat with.

As the trio banter back and forth at the bar, he can smell tension rising off Anna. Gabe shoots glances to her as they haggle back and forth until she lets out a pained gasp and clutches her belly.

Castiel grips her by the arms, holding her up as his nose twitches furiously at the scent of _pain, distress,_ and _panic_. He lowers Anna to the floor gently and gets her seated up against the bar so she can catch her breath.

"Anna? Anna, what's wrong?"

Anna raises her eyes to Castiel. "Well, I'm pretty sure that my water just broke. You uh, might want to call an ambulance."

Gabriel starts to panic. "What? Call the cops here? No way man, I can't be here if cops are here."

Castiel shoots a withering glare to the shifty blonde. "Call 911, Gabe, and tell them that we have a pregnant omega that's going into labor. I swear to you no officers will show up if you don't elaborate any further than that."

Gabe's eyes widen, and he squeaks out, "Pregnant omega?!" before fumbling his cell phone out of his jacket pocket. Castiel turns back to Anna and draws her into his neck to keep her calm, and he hears Gabe in the background talking to a dispatcher and giving them all the important information. He waves the other alpha off after he hangs up and promises to pay him for the truffles as soon as he gets back to work.

The next twenty minutes blur together as alpha and omega sit huddled on the floor together, waiting for the ambulance crew to arrive. They allow Castiel to ride with them since Anna flatly refuses to let go of his hand the entire time.

Time goes by so fast that he can't even begin to hope to track it. Snippets stand out to him- Dr. Bradbury's red hair that matches so well with Anna's, Anna's mate getting kicked out of the labor room for stinking it up so much with his stress scent, Anna's tiny hand gripping his own.

The sound of a pup wailing for the first time.

Castiel gets to hold Anna's new pup for the first time and inhales the scent of the tiny girl in his arms. She's swaddled in white and yellow, and Anna is beaming from the hospital bed, soaked in sweat and tears with the scent of blood still in the air. He hands her off to the new mom and Anna asks him to send in her mate now that the excitement is over.

He doesn't remember the cab ride back to his apartment but once he reaches it, he drags himself up the stairs. He leans back against his front door as it closes with a small dreamy smile on his face...

...before reality crashes back to him in full color and he realizes what time it is.

He scrambles back out of the apartment and flies down the stairs, hailing the first cab he sees. He gives the driver the address to Claire's school as he fumbles his phone out of his pocket to see a dozen missed calls from her. He dials her number, but it goes right to voicemail, causing his panic to ratchet even higher.

When they pull up to the school, he begs the cab driver to wait for him and tumbles out of the car, looking around wildly for Claire. His nose is twitching violently as he desperately scents the air, hoping to catch her lemon drop scent. He rushes up to the doors, but they are locked tight, and he whirls back around to face the street, hands gripping his hair. It is at that moment that he hears the small sound of a sob to his right.

He runs down the stairs and rounds the corner to see Claire bundled up in her coat, arms wrapped around her knees. Her face is blotched red, and there are tear tracks lining her cheeks. He rushes over to her and pulls her into a hug as she sobs.

"I thought you forgot me, Uncle Cas," she cries as she buries her nose into his neck. Her body is trembling from the cold and stress, and she breaks down in the safety of his arms.

Castiel gathers her into his chest and walks them back over to the cab, lowering them down into the back before lowly asking the driver to take them back to the apartment. "I'm so sorry, dear heart," he murmurs into her hair as he rocks her back and forth. "Anna had her baby today and-"

"You forgot me." Claire pulls back from Castiel's chest and sniffles.

Castiel swallows hard. "You're right. I did. And I'm so sorry. Everything just happened so fast; I didn't even have time to think. But that's no excuse, I could have called the school, called you, something, and I didn't." A sob escapes his lips, and he curls over the child in his lap. "I'm so sorry, Claire. How can you ever forgive me? How can I ever forgive myself?"

Claire's small hand cups his cheek, and he looks up into her face. She's still upset, he can tell by her scent, but a look of understanding graces her features as she leans her forehead on his and she tentatively scent marks him with her wrist. "It's okay Uncle Cas. I know you didn't mean it, that it was an accident. Just... try not to let it happen again?" she asks in a small voice.

"I promise Claire-bear. I know I'm not doing very well at this whole parenting thing; I don't know what I'm doing. I feel like I'm doing everything wrong, and I'm doing nothing but making you unhappy."

Claire shakes her head. "No Uncle Cas. You are doing a great job. Yeah, you've messed up a little, but you are _trying_ , and I know that you love me." She lays her finger on her nose and continues, "I know how worried you are all the time, and how sad you still are, even if you don't show me. I may not have presented yet, but I can still smell it. So, don't worry Uncle Cas, we'll figure it out together, okay?"

Castiel nods and hugs her again. They spend the rest of the night going over her homework and learning more about each other. After finding out that Claire likes Thai food, they decide to order delivery and snuggle on the couch watching Lilo and Stitch on Netflix and devouring their food. He tucks her into bed that night, and they read more of Harry Potter until neither of them can keep their eyes open, falling asleep wrapped around each other.

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

The rest of the week is thankfully much easier, with the sole exception of the elusive honeysuckle scent that Castiel keeps catching snatches of in the kitchen. It's deeper now and smells like it's a lingering scent on a well-worn leather jacket, but he cannot for the life of him track down the scent's owner. It's honestly driving him and his alpha a little bit mad. Something about the scent pings his hindbrain, making it sit up and take notice. His moods start to suffer a little because of it, but he grits his teeth and tries to remember Donna's advice to keep himself in check.

Friday night is busy enough that the kitchen staff is drenched in sweat an hour into dinner, and the air in the kitchen is humid and saturated in the clashing scents of the staff and food. Tempers run short the later it gets, and Castiel finds himself sequestering himself in the walk-in cooler more than once so that he can wrestle himself under control. They manage not to kill one other and finally close out the night, and as Castiel carries Claire out to the Uber, Dean runs up to him with her backpack in his hands.

"Hey man, you left this in your office." He hands it in through the window and leans over to look inside. Dean's face goes soft as he watches Claire shuffle around in her sleep and she presses her nose into Castiel's side.

"We still on for dinner Sunday?" Dean asks, hand wrapped around the back of his neck.

Castiel looks away from his niece and over to Dean. "Yes. Come by at three. Will that be enough time to make dinner?"

Dean grins at him. "Yup. I'll bring everything we need foodwise, you just have a boiler pot ready and a big casserole dish for baking, got it?"

Castiel rolls his eyes at Dean. "I'm sure I can accomplish that much, Dean." The driver of the Uber huffs, drawing both men's attention to her.

"Guess I should let you guys get going." Dean stands up, patting the side of the car twice. "See ya tomorrow, Cas."

"Good night, Dean."


	7. Heat of the Moment

[ ](https://ibb.co/5TSrWnd)

Dean's nervous.

Dean's nervous as _fuck_.

He had to call off last week's dinner plans because his heat had hit him shortly after his shift ended the previous Saturday, thanks to him weaning off his suppressants. He'd felt bad for bailing on Claire so soon after promising to cook for her, but biology trumps promises every time.

Dean shakes himself out of his thoughts as he runs through his mental checklist one more time before pulling various containers out of his fridge.

Ricotta and egg mix? Check.

Meat and stuff for sauce? Check.

A ridiculous amount of cheese for the layers? Check.

Tiny little breadsticks? Check.

Tiramisu and Cannoli? Check.

Lasagna noodles?

Dean looks around the kitchen for the box of noodles he knows he set out but doesn't see them anywhere in his box of goodies. He sighs and shuffles through the kitchen, rummages through the pantry and unearths a box of the noodles, shouting out _Yahtzee_ in triumph.

Finally satisfied that he's ready to go to another person's house and make them his Grandma Deanna's lasagna, he pulls on his leather jacket and winds a scarf around his neck, zipping up the jacket. He takes a second to bury his nose into the scarf, smelling Sam and his mate, Jess, on it. He smiles to himself, gathers up the box, making sure one more time that yes, he does, in fact, have everything, and backs out of the house. He juggles the box under one arm as he locks the door and jiggles it to make sure it latched before making his way to the garage where his Baby is parked.

He grins wide when she comes into view, and he runs his hand lovingly over the black glossy paint before popping the trunk and depositing his spoils there. Zep blares from his speakers when he turns the engine over, and he sings along as he backs out of his spot and makes his way to Castiel's apartment.

As he approaches Cas' apartment, he sees Claire standing out in the cold, bundled up and bouncing on her toes as she watches over the street. She's looking away from him as he approaches, so he honks his horn at her, a shit eating grin on his face when she jumps and whirls to face him, a glare on her face. Pulling up to the curb next to her, he gets out and winks at her.

"Waitin for someone out here kiddo? Kinda cold to be out here."

Claire rolls her eyes at him. "I just wanted to make sure that you were _actually_ coming this time." She whirls around and marches inside, and Dean could just barely make out a muttered “men” as she stomps up the steps. Dean laughs and shakes his head as he gets the food box out of the trunk. He follows her scent up the stairs to a third-floor apartment and knocks on the door.

The door opens to show a confused Castiel. "Didn't Claire wait for you?" Cas steps back and opens the door as wide as it will go so Dean can pass him before shutting it and locking it back.

Dean draws in a deep breath as he follows Cas through the apartment. He plays the scents of Claire and Castiel over his tongue, letting it settle his omega before he answers, "Nah man, I think I might have made her mad at me. I honked at her when she was lookin' the other way down the street and scared her. I just followed her scent up the stairs."

"Ah. Yes, that would set her on edge a little, I imagine." Castiel slants a look at the box in Dean's arms. "Can I help you with anything?"

Dean grins at him. "Nope. Claire specifically said she didn't want you doing any work, that tonight was all for you. So, if you don't mind rounding up my assistant, we'll get started."

Castiel lifts one of the Tupperware bowls out of the box and quirks an eyebrow at Dean. Dean huffs and snatches it out of his hands, grumbling at him to keep his hands off his Tupperware.

Claire comes running in the kitchen as Dean finishes unloading the box, sans coat and scarf. Her cheeks and nose are bright red from the cold, and she has a wide grin on her face. She runs up to the two men and starts pushing at Cas' hip, urging him out of the kitchen.

"Out, Alpha. Get out Uncle Cas, Dean and me are making dinner for you tonight." She continues to push at his hip as Cas looks up at Dean with a bemused look on his face. Dean laughs at him and tells him he better listen to the chef, or he's not getting fed tonight.

Cas throws up his hands in mock outrage and lets his niece shove him out of the kitchen, laughing.

The next hour has Dean and Claire doing their best to make a mess out of Cas' kitchen. He shows her how to make the lasagna sauce from scratch and teaches her how to test taste it along the way. He holds the different spices in the palm of his hand and lets her sniff them so that she can learn the difference between the taste and scent profiles, teaching her the different combinations for different flavor profiles.

Multiple times through the hour Dean catches sight of Cas leaning up against the doorway, arms crossed over his chest and a small smile playing on his lips. His face is soft, and his scent is warm as he watches Dean and Claire bump around the kitchen with the music turned up high and the sauce simmering on the stove.

Dean realizes that Cas is starting to smell like home to him.

'Aint that a thought.

[ ](https://ibb.co/CKFdDFM)

Claire shoos her uncle back to his room so she and Dean can set up a blanket fort in the living room while the lasagna bakes in the oven. She really wants this to be a surprise for Uncle Cas and is happy she's found a partner in crime in Dean.

Dean reminds her a little of Mom sometimes when he smiles at her. Not his scent, since Mom had always smelled like cherry Chapstick, but the gentle way his eyes crinkle at the corners and the way his scent warms up when she makes him grin. Claire wonders if Dean would be willing to stay, if he makes Uncle Cas as happy as he makes her feel.

Her nine-year-old brain doesn't dwell on that, however. She excitedly pulls out all the blankets they own and manages to dig out an old string of fairy lights from one of the boxes still in her room. Dean helps her build the blanket fort using the couch, cushions, and blankets, and then they throw pillows down around inside of the fort for everyone to sit on.

Once the fort is complete, they sit back and take it all in.

"Dude, this is pretty awesome."

Claire nods with a big grin on her face before the timer goes off on Dean's phone, causing her to scramble to her feet and make a mad dash to the kitchen.

Dean runs in behind her laughing. "Hold on there, squirt. Let me get it out of the oven, okay? It's heavy as shit, and I don't want to run the risk of you getting burned."

Claire hands over the oven mitts and takes off back to her bedroom. She gathers up a few of her smaller stuffed animals and Mr. Wiggles, carrying them back into the living room, and sets them up inside the fort in the corners. She runs back to her room and scoops up a few of her more outlandish scarves and hangs them over the chair backs.

 _Now_ she's satisfied.

Dean finally declares dinner ready and dishes it up for the three of them and brings the plates of salad and pasta to the fort, Claire following behind him with the basket of breadsticks. Then they head down to her uncle's room, and Dean raps his knuckles on the door.

"Hey, Cas? Dinner's ready man."

Uncle Cas opens the door and draws in a deep breath. "Mmm, smells good, you two. I'm ready to eat!"

Dean holds up a hand to stop him from going down the hall. "Hold up mister. We've got a surprise for you, so I gotta blindfold you."

Claire giggles at the look of consternation on her uncle's face as he allows Dean to cover his eyes and lead him into the living room. When Dean nods at her, she scrambles into the fort and grabs Mr. Wiggles, huging him to her chest. She holds her breath when Dean uncovers Uncle Cas' eyes.

"Well then, I guess we aren't eating at the table! What's this?" Uncle Cas' eyes are twinkling as he takes in Claire inside the blanket fort and smiles.

[ ](https://ibb.co/nPGjKJt)

"We are camping out tonight Uncle Cas! Dean and me built the most awesome blanket fort ever to camp out and have dinner," she says before crawling out of the fort and grabbing his hand, tugging him over. They crawl in one after the other, careful not to tip over the plates of food, before digging into dinner. After finishing the pasta, Dean brings out dessert for the three of them, overruling Uncle Cas when he tries to beg off.

"I don't eat dessert, Dean."

"How can you not eat dessert, Cas?! That's sacrilege!"

"I don't require sweets in my diet."

"Dude, just eat it."

And that was that.

After dessert, Dean teaches Claire how to play pick-up-sticks with the funny breadsticks. They continue to play games, Claire going and finding Chutes and Ladders and Candyland, until finally she can't keep her eyes open any longer, snuggled into the scents in the tent of her uncle and Dean.

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

Castiel is having a minor crisis.

When Dean walked into the apartment, Castiel was hit full in the face with his scent. The honeysuckle and leather scent that has been driving him mad since he met Mary Winchester...

...belongs to Dean.

He smells like _home_ , and Castiel's alpha thinks he also smells like _mate_.

As the night progresses, he watches Dean interact with Claire. It's clear that they adore each other and Castiel's alpha soaks in their twining scents of happiness. Everything feels _right_ with Dean here, and that scares Castiel more than a little.

His life is orderly. Predictable. Exactly the way he wants it...

Right?

As the three of them eat dinner he starts to realize that maybe his life up until now _wasn't_ exactly how he wanted it. He thinks back to watching Zach and Naomi, and the longing he felt at the way their scents were so tangled up in each other that they smelled almost like one.

When Claire falls asleep in the middle of playing Candyland, Dean chuckles at the pup in his lap and brushes her hair back from her face. He looks like he's far away as he watches her nuzzle into his hand. Dean's eyes flick up to Castiel's, and his expression shuts down a little as Castiel shuffles over and gathers the sleeping pup in his arms.

He tucks Claire into bed, making sure that the door is cracked before he makes his way back to the living room where Dean is disassembling the blanket fort. Castiel silently helps him put the living room back to its right order before taking the folded blankets and putting them away. Once the couch is reassembled, the two men settle down on opposite ends, drinks in hand. They chat quietly about their families, history, whatever comes to mind.

Castiel can very well see himself doing this with the man in front of him for the rest of his life. He wonders if Dean feels the same way.

Finally, Dean checks his phone and makes a disgruntled noise in the back of his throat. "Damn man, it's three am." He drops the phone to his lap and stretches, his Henley inching up his torso, and Castiel's gaze zeros in on the strip of skin. When Dean clambers off the couch, he reaches out and runs his wrist across Castiel's neck as he passes by him to go to the kitchen to gather his things, subtly scent marking him.

Castiel shoots up off the couch and crowds Dean from behind as he enters the kitchen, pushing him up against the kitchen table before wrapping his arms around his waist and dropping his nose to the crook of Dean's neck. He huffs a deep breath through his nose and hears Dean's low whimper as he bucks back into him. Castiel mouths at Dean's scent gland and a rumble starts in his chest.

Dean drops his head to Castiel's shoulder, gripping his hair with one hand and latching onto his wrist with the other. Castiel scrapes his blunted teeth across Dean's skin, and the man, _the omega,_ in front of him lets out a rumbling moan.

"Gods yes, Cas, fuck." Dean draws a sharp breath in through his nose. "Yes Alpha, just like that." Dean's grip in his hair tightens as Castiel begins to suck little bruises along his shoulder. He carefully avoids marking the area over Dean's scent gland, but the rest of his neck and shoulder is glistening with spit, little spots of pink turning to purple when Castiel pulls away.

Dean's eyes are closed, and his mouth is hanging open as he pants. The kitchen is saturated in Dean's scent, tinged sweet with his arousal. Dean whines and opens his eyes, glancing over at Castiel. "Why can't I smell you?"

Castiel brushes his nose over Dean's cheek. "I'm currently on suppressants. After my last failed relationship, I..." He trails off and ducks his head in shame, hiding his face against Dean's shoulder.

Dean straighten up and turns around in the loose circle of Castiel's arms. "Hey there little alpha." He cups Castiel's cheeks and gently guides his face up so that Dean can look him in the eye. "There's nothing to be ashamed of. Hell, I've been on suppressants for the last six years, give or take, ever since I came to Kansas City. My home life was shit and I didn't want some knot head thinking he could take advantage just as I was finally getting on the right track for once." Dean noses into Castiel's cheek as he continues, "I actually just recently started dropping my dosage. 's actually why I had to skip out last week. First heat in a long time."

Castiel tightens his grip around Dean's waist. "I never expected to find a mate, Dean. No one has ever really understood me; my need for rules..." He draws away from the omega slowly, dropping his hands to Dean's hips and squeezing. "I don't... _do_ this. I don't date. I don't allow my hindbrain to rule my thoughts and actions."

Dean rubs his wrist against Castiel's neck and scent gland, and he feels himself warming at the contact. "May I?" he asks, raising his wrist to Dean's neck.

Dean leans his head to the side to give Castiel room. His eyes flutter shut, and a soft sigh escapes his lips as Castiel runs his wrist up Dean's neck and down his shoulder, following the same trail that his lips had just taken. When Dean's eyes open again, they are dilated slightly. He takes a deep breath and pulls away from Castiel.

"Alright Cas. We are gonna take this slow since I know it’s been a while for both of us. So, I'm gonna get out of your hair for the night and head home." He gathers up his things, and Castiel trails him to the door.

"Thank you for a lovely evening, Dean."

Dean smiles softly at him and leans in, pressing a soft kiss to Castiel's cheek before murmuring a soft 'goodnight' and backing out the door. Castiel watches him until he's out of sight before turning away and closing the door, making sure that he locks it.

He wanders to his room, hands buried in his hair. He gives a few sharp tugs, but that only serves to remind him of Dean's hands in his hair. Castiel sits down heavily on the edge of his bed and drags his phone out of his pocket. He puts in a call to Donna's office, leaving a message to make an appointment as soon as possible before he tosses it on the bedside table.

Even with it being well past three in the morning, Castiel is too keyed up to sleep just yet. The evening swirls through his mind, and Dean's scent lingers on his skin. He sighs and hauls himself out of bed, crossing the room to the dresser to retrieve sleep clothes before he drags himself into the bathroom. He hopes that taking a shower will allow him to relax enough to sleep sometime before Claire has to go to school.

A few hours later Claire runs into his room and makes a truly impressive flying leap onto his bed, making Castiel almost bounce high enough to fall out of the bed when he lands. Claire giggles at his look of disquiet but agrees to start his coffee while he gets dressed and orders the Uber.

He sees her safely to school but is stopped from leaving by Ellen.

"I was hoping to see you, Mr. Novak. A few of Claire's teachers have spoken with me, and I feel like we need to have a discussion. Will you follow me to my office?"

Castiel swallows hard but nods his head at her and follows her into the building. She gestures to a chair in front of her desk and perches herself on the corner.

"So, it seems that Claire is having a hard time staying awake in class. She tells the kids that it's because she works for her room and board by assisting you at the restaurant." Castiel's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Ellen quirks an eyebrow at him and continues, "Now, if we were to find out that any part of this is true, you know we would have to call child services, correct?"

Castiel feels the blood leave his face. He nods numbly at her, unable to give voice to any of his thoughts. He can't tell her that it's the only place that he's seen her light up, can't tell her that she's made friends with all the staff, even the prickly Billie.

Can't tell her that Claire will be devastated to be kept away from Dean.

Ellen gives him a sharp nod. "Good. I'm glad we understand each other. I know you are busy, Alpha, so I won't keep you any longer." Ellen stands up from where she'd been leaning against the desk and shows him out.

**

Donna's pretty sure that if Castiel doesn't let off some steam soon, he's going to metaphorically explode.

She really, _really_ doesn't want to be around if, when, that happens. She pities anyone who is.

Something's off about the alpha today, even more so than the agitation he's yet to give voice to. Donna can tell he's working through how to tell her what’s in his head, and she gives him space to do so and draws in a deep breath.

Oh. _Oh._

Castiel smells like an omega.

Donna's nose twitches as she parses this information and jots down a few notes as she hums to herself.

"You smell smug."

Donna glances up at Castiel with an eyebrow raised. "I'm not sure what that actually smells like, but I can assure you I don't have anything to be smug about. At least not that I know of. You ready ta tell me what's so important that you called my office at three am and make an emergency appointment?"

Castiel glares at her half-heartedly as he plops down on the couch opposite her. He is probably the untidiest Donna has ever seen him; his hair is sticking up in every direction imaginable, his slacks are rumpled, and his shirt has _wrinkles_ in it. He genuinely looks like hell, and it worries her. She stares at him, knowing it holds a challenge until he wilts under her gaze and drops his head into his hands.

"So much is happening, Donna. The new sous chef that is standing in for Anna, Dean, is amazing. Infuriating. Brash and loud and I think he's my mate."

Donna's eyebrows shoot up, and her mouth drops open. "Wait, you tellin' me that you found your mate while _on suppressants_? How the hell did Dean even scent you?"

Castiel squirms. "He didn't. But I can smell him, and Donna, my alpha has _never_ reacted the way it does to Dean. Ever. I want to stop taking the suppressants."

Donna nods slowly. She taps her pen against her lips and holds up a hand to keep Castiel from continuing when he starts to speak again. "Alright, Castiel. First off, are you _sure_ you want to do this? The suppressants have probably done a number to your body, and your first rut you are going to want to make sure Claire has someone to go to, and that someone, preferably Dean, is willing to go through it with you." Castiel's jaw goes slack at her words, and she sees his pupils dilate slightly. Her lips twitch as she continues, "Talk about all of this with your support system _first_. Make sure everyone is on board, and then yes, I agree that you can stop taking the suppressants. I'll write out how you should taper off them, alright?"

Castiel nods and then inhales, shaking himself slightly. "Yes. That, yes. Thank you, Donna." He slumps again and drags his hand through his hair again. "That's what I called about last night, but something else happened today when I dropped Claire off at school."

Donna listens as he lays out the conversation with Ellen and sighs when he finishes. "While a lot of good things have come from this, Castiel, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to give you the stink eye for this one. What were you thinking taking a nine-year-old pup into an industrial kitchen like that?"

Castiel groans. "I didn't have a choice, Donna. The one sitter I found was gone before I got home, and Claire honestly doesn't like staying at home while I'm not there. Probably something to do with the fact that her mother is dead." Donna winces at the reminder, and Castiel sighs. "I'm sorry, Donna. That was out of line."

"No, you're right; it probably does have something to do with that. But she's still a little girl, and there are laws around situations like this." She gets up from her chair and goes to her desk, rummaging around in the top drawer. She pulls out a card with a small sound of victory and hands it over to Castiel before she takes her seat again.

"That's a number to one of the best people I know in this city. Pam Barnes does kid sitting for a friend of mine sometimes, and I'm sure she'll be able to help you out."

"I hope that Claire doesn't take this too badly. She's become attached to everyone at the restaurant. I don't want her to feel like I'm taking the only friends she has away from her."

Donna shrugs. "Take her with you Friday and Saturday nights. Hell, let her do her homework there after school before sending her to Pam. Y'all will make it work; I have faith in you. Oh, and you might want to consider getting a car, so you don't have to be at the mercy of cabs and Uber anymore."

Castiel rolls his eyes.

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

Castiel is dreading the end of the school day so much his stomach is starting to churn. He manages to paste on a smile for Claire when she runs over to where he's waiting for her next to the cab. He can’t put it off any longer after they get home though.

"Claire, sweetheart, we need to talk," he says as he sits down at the table next to her.

Claire twitches and directs her blue-eyed gaze to him.

Castiel draws a deep breath. "I had a conversation with Ellen, your principal, today. She told me that you are sleeping in class. Sweetheart, I'm sorry, but you can't stay with me at the restaurant anymore."

Tears gather in Claire's eyes. "Why? What did I do wrong Uncle Cas?"

"Oh Claire-bear, nothing. You did nothing wrong at all. But you are still a little girl, and you should be at home, getting normal amounts of sleep. You can still come with me for a few hours to do your homework and have dinner with us, but after that, you have to come home. I can't let anyone take you away from me, not over something like this."

Claire's lips twist in a cruel parody of a smile. "I see. Fine. I didn't want to keep going to your stupid restaurant anyway. And really, who cares, right? You never really wanted me here anyway." She shoves away from the table and starts to flee to her room, but Castiel catches her before she goes too far.

"Let go! I hate you! I want my mom! Let go of me, Uncle Cas!"

Castiel is so shocked he lets go of her, and she pelts full tilt to her room, slamming the door behind her. He runs his hands through his hair and pulls Pam's card out of his pocket. His fingers hover over the Send button on his phone for a few seconds before he dials the numbers in and bites his lip, waiting as the phone rings.

"Yellow?"

"Is this Pamela?"

"You got her, sugar. Who's this?"

"My name is Castiel Novak. Donna Hanscum gave me your number. She said that you do childcare?"

Castiel hears the clatter of dishes in the background. "Sure do. Your place or mine, and how often?"

They spend the next thirty minutes hashing out the finer details of Pamela taking over care for Claire on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays before ending the call.

Castiel puts the phone back in his pocket and gets up from the table, padding down the hall to Claire's room. He knocks gently. "Claire, can I come in?"

"Go away."

"Claire please, I'm sorry. I don't want this any more than you do." Castiel leans his forehead on the door and sighs. "Okay Claire. I'm going to make dinner. Come out if you get hungry, and if you don't, I'll leave the leftovers in the 'fridge." He pushes away from her door and goes back into the kitchen, pulling the ingredients for a simple dinner of chicken, rice, and steamed vegetables. He works silently, deciding at the last minute to throw a little lemon pepper on the chicken for flavor.

He eats alone, and the silence is overwhelming. He wants Claire to come out and sit with him, chatting about her homework; he wants Dean here, livening the space up with his loud music.

Castiel sighs and pillows his head on his arms for a few minutes until he pushes away from the table and puts away the leftovers in a spot that Claire can get to them. Looking around the kitchen, he decides tonight he'll turn in early and takes himself to bed.


	8. Shatter Me

[ ](https://ibb.co/7Yt0tkp)

Tuesday morning comes entirely too fast for Castiel. Claire is still coldly silent and ignores him as much as possible as they go through their morning rituals. Castiel feels like his heart is going to shatter into a million pieces the whole cab ride to the school. However, Claire does hug him before she slides out of the car and he feels a little better when he directs the driver to take him to a car lot he researched the night before.

Crowley's Used Cars is not a large lot, but the Yelp reviews were all positive. The owner is not around, but a young sales associate by the name of Alfie helps him pick out a beat-up pickup truck with room enough for anything that Claire might need if she picks up a hobby. He pays off the entire amount with his savings, and drives off the lot in the Ford, heading off to finish up the other minor details of purchasing a new (to him) car.

He confirms with Pamela (she preferers to be called Pam, thank you) the time that she will pick up Claire from the restaurant and he makes sure that he has a spare key for her in case Claire doesn't have hers. Castiel putters around the apartment until it’s time for him to head to the restaurant.

The kitchen is subdued when he gets there. He decides to go ahead and let the entire staff know what happened with Claire and while they are all upset, they are happy that she will at least be able to spend _some_ time with them, even if it isn't as much as before. Dean, however, looks devastated when he hears the news and hides in Castiel's office.

After he finishes with everyone else's questions, Castiel follows Dean into the office and wraps him up in a hug; his chest to Dean's back. The alpha rubs his cheek on Dean's, and goosebumps erupt over his body at the prickles of Dean's stubble. Dean relaxes slightly into Castiel's hold, and sighs.

"This isn't 'cause of me, right Cas?" Castiel can smell the worry pouring off the omega in front of him, and he tightens his grip.

"No, Dean. The school threatened to call CPS on me when Claire told the other students that she was working here. We both know it was just a story she told them, but CPS wouldn't see it that way, and I can't take the risk of someone trying to take her away from me." Castiel shifts and sits down beside Dean, laying a hand on the back of his neck and bringing their foreheads together. "I started weaning off my suppressants today. You and I need to have a conversation about my first rut soon, and I need to make arrangements for Claire as well, no matter what we decide to do."

Dean grins. “Is that your way of asking me to help you through your rut, little Alpha?” Castiel narrows his eyes and Dean nods, laughing before he leans back and pecks a kiss to Castiel’s cheek. "Whatever you need, Alpha. I'm sure Mom will love to take Claire for any reason she can get away with. She loves the kid and will jump at any opportunity at having a pup run amok at her place." Dean laughs and shakes his head. "Hell, she already watches one of her neighbor’s pup when she goes into heat, one more won't hurt. I'll call her tomorrow."

Castiel closes his eyes and sighs, grateful. "Thank you, Dean." He squeezes Dean's neck and sighs again before pulling away. It's time to get started on prep before dinner starts, and he still needs to go pick up Claire. He laughs to himself, and Dean shoots a questioning glance at him. "I bought a car today."

Dean raises his eyebrows. "Oh yeah? Whad'ja get?"

"A 1987 Ford truck."

Dean gives him a scandalized look. "We are not going out on dates in that thing. Ever."

Castiel rolls his eyes at him. "Yes, Dean."

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

Claire seems to be in better spirits at the end of the school day. Her hair streams behind her as she runs down the steps and crashes into Castiel's waist, burying her face into his stomach.

"Hey, Uncle Cas," she mumbles into his shirt.

Castiel wraps his arms around her shoulders. "Hey there, Claire-bear. Good day at school?"

Claire nods, her face still squished into his stomach. She mumbles something that he can't understand and finally pulls away, looking behind him with an odd look on her face. "What... is that?"

"My truck."

Claire looks up at him and then back down to the vehicle behind him. She shrugs and breaks away from Castiel, opening the passenger side door, slinging her backpack down to the floorboard, and climbing into the seat. She shuts the door after her and settles down into the seat, buckling her seatbelt. Secured, she looks out the window and raises her eyebrows at him in the universal gesture of 'well, you coming?'.

Castiel huffs a laugh and nods his head at her as he makes his way around the front of the truck. They chat about school and what she can expect for the rest of the afternoon and evening as he drives to the restaurant. After he parks, Claire sits still instead of moving to unbuckle her seatbelt and get out.

"I'm sorry Uncle Cas. I said some pretty awful things last night, and I didn't mean them." Castiel looks over at her, and he feels his heart jump into his throat when he sees tears snaking down her face. "I don't want anyone to take me away. Please don't let anyone take me away." Her voice cracks on the last word, and she breaks down sobbing. Castiel rips himself out of the seatbelt and shoves himself across the bench seat at the same time Claire is fighting her way out of the restraints. He gathers her into his arms and drops a kiss on the top of her head and rocks her back and forth as the grief pours out of her.

A tap on the passenger window draws Castiel's gaze up, and he can see Dean through the window. Castiel shuffles back towards the driver's side and motions to Dean to climb in. The door creaks as it opens, and the cab is filled with Dean's worry-tinged scent as he climbs in. Once the door shuts, Dean leans over and touches foreheads with Castiel and drops a kiss down on Claire's head. "Hey," he says quietly, "Everything okay?"

Castiel shakes his head slightly and shifts over so that Dean can slide his left leg between them and the seat back. Dean fits himself in against Claire's back and curls his arms around the pup and alpha, purrs emanating from Dean’s chest.

They sit like this until Claire starts to calm down, sobs quieting to sniffles, and then eventually whimpers. She pulls away from Castiel and bumps into Dean's chest. She looks up at him with a question in her eyes. Dean smiles at her and drops another kiss, this time to her forehead. Both men scent mark her and she visibly relaxes.

They separate and climb out of the truck silently and trudge through the cold to the restaurant. Claire shoots them a small smile as she scoots into Castiel's office to start doing her homework.

"Thank you, Dean."

"No problem, man."

The afternoon flies as the staff finishes prep and starts dealing with dinner orders. Each one of them drops into Castiel's office to spend a few minutes with Claire. Some of them sit with her and chat; others help her with her homework. But all of them make sure that she knows that she is wanted, that she is loved.

That she is family.

Pam shows up exactly on time - seven pm - and Castiel breaks away from the grill to hug Claire before they leave. The rest of the night is fairly quiet, and Castiel withdraws into himself. He only comes back to himself after the kitchen is clean for the night, and Dean stops him from leaving on autopilot.

"Hey. Stay with me for a little while. Let's get you outta your head."

Castiel sighs. "Dean, I'm tired. The last two days have been very trying, and I just want to go home and sleep."

Dean reaches up and cups Castiel's cheek. "I know, little alpha. But it's late, and I'm afraid if you try to drive home like this you won't make it. So, let's just sit here and talk for a little while, get to know each other." Dean brightens as a thought occurs to him. "We can grab a bottle of wine and eat the rest of the fruit we didn't use tonight. We can have a proper little date."

He tugs Castiel after him and sits him down on a stool next to the prep table. Castiel slumps against the table and watches him as Dean flits around the kitchen gathering the fruit, two wine glasses, and a bottle of wine from behind the bar. Dean looks so giddy as he sits down that Castiel can't help but smile at him.

They spend the next hour talking, and Castiel's mood does gradually lift, even though his level of soberness plummets. At one point in the night, Castiel points at Dean and declares that 'he doesn't do this', and Dean shoots a grin at him as he tops off his wine glass.

Once the wine and the fruit are gone, Dean cleans up the kitchen again and guides Castiel out to the Impala. Castiel is pretty sure he isn't drunk, but he knows he's tipsy enough that he can't drive anywhere, so he allows himself to be herded to the black car. It doesn't take long for Dean to navigate them to Castiel's apartment, and Castiel keeps a rambling train of conversation the entire way.

Dean manages to get them to Castiel's apartment and up the stairs, Castiel attempting to crack jokes the whole way up. He stumbles once, and Dean shoots a hand out to catch him, but Castiel waves him off. Halfway up, Castiel chuckles to himself.

"What?"

Castiel leans against the wall and looks back at Dean. "What are the three secrets of French cuisine?"

Dean scoffs. "Oh, come on. Everybody knows that," he says as he shoos Castiel into climbing the stairs again.

"Oh, yeah? So, what are they, smarty-pants?" 

"Butter, butter, and butter."

Castiel snorts a laugh into his hand. "You're good." He climbs a few more stairs silently. "You know, you didn't have to do this; it's not like I'm drunk or anything."

Dean shrugs. "'S okay. I'm kinda the reason you are tipsy, so I feel like I need to make sure you get home okay."

They stop next to Castiel's door, and Dean leans against the wall, watching as Castiel digs his keys out of his pockets. He fumbles with them and Dean catches them before they fall to the floor.

Michael's door opens, and Castiel can smell him as the omega steps out into the hall. He barely keeps himself from rolling his eyes as he turns to introduce the two omegas. "Michael, hi. Dean, this is Michael, my next-door neighbor. Michael, this is Dean; we cook together."

Dean shifts on his feet but sticks a hand out to Michael. "How are you?"

Michael tucks his hands in his pockets and levels a glare at Dean. "You obviously don't live in the building."

Dean pulls his hand back and shifts again, turning to Castiel's door. "Nope, got me pegged there. Just makin' sure Cas gets home okay. We stayed a little late tonight, and I didn't want anyone to take advantage of him." Dean finally gets the door unlocked and ushers Castiel into his own home. "Anyway, see ya, Mike." He shuts the door before Michael can respond.

Castiel snorts a quiet laugh into his hand. "Oh, Dean. And here I thought _I_ was the alpha. I didn't realize - _mufh._ " Castiel gets cut off when Dean pushes him up against the wall and kisses the breath out of him. Dean's got his right hand in his hair, and he's scent marking Castiel's neck with his left wrist. When he pulls his lips away, they are both breathing hard, and Dean's pupils are blown wide.

"Sorry sweetheart. Just- fuck Cas, the way he was lookin' at you. Like you're a piece of meat and not a person." Dean leans in and nibbles on Castiel's ear. "Alright little alpha, let’s get you some water, an aspirin, and to bed, preferably in that order." Dean leans back and takes Castiel by the hand, leading him down to his bedroom. He ducks out as Castiel changes for bed and brings back a glass of water and two painkillers and waits until Castiel takes them and drinks the whole glass of water before he gets into bed.

Dean leans over and brushes a kiss against Castiel's head and murmurs a soft goodnight before the world fades out and Castiel is asleep.

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

Castiel wakes up when he hears soft sounds coming from the living room and sits up in bed, checking his phone for the time. He wipes a hand across his face, trying to figure out what the sound is when he sees light filtering in the room. He pulls on a robe over his boxers and t-shirt that he'd fallen asleep in and creeps down the hallway towards the living room. He looks around the corner to see Claire huddled on the couch with Mr. Wiggles; knees pulled to her chest and tears tracking down her face as she watches old videos posted to Facebook of her and Hannah that Cas had taken when they had gone to Myrtle Beach last year. Hannah had been running up and down the coastline, dashing into the water with Claire following behind her and shrieking as the cold water ran over her bare feet. They were laughing, Hannah's dark hair billowing out behind her and Claire's face lit up with a joy that Castiel hadn't seen in a long time.

He pushes off the wall and silently joins Claire as she clicks through more Facebook videos and photos. She sniffles as he sits down next to her on the couch.

"Uncle Cas?" She looks up at him, and he gently wipes away the tears that are tracking down her face. "Are you going to leave me too like Mamma did?" She gulps in great gasps of air around her renewed sobbing as she dives into Castiel's arms, her small frame quaking with her grief.

Castiel pulls her into his lap, uncaring that the laptop falls to the floor. "No sweetheart, I'm never going to leave you, not if I can help it," he whispers into her blonde hair as tears flow down his face. He hugs her tighter and murmurs soothing noises into Claire's hair until her sobs finally gave way in the face of exhaustion and she falls asleep. He picks her up and cradles her against his chest as he makes his way back to his bedroom before tucking them both into his bed and falling back asleep.

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

_Clair de Lune_ has never been met with the level of hatred that Castiel has for it the following morning. When the first bars ring out, he rolls over and pulls his pillow over his head and groans. When the sound doesn't stop, he blindly gropes around on the nightstand until he locates his phone and silences it. He snoozes for a few minutes before he hears his bedroom door open and smells Claire's scent drift into the room. When had she slipped out of bed?

He drags his pillow off his face and cracks an eye open to look at Claire. She's standing in the doorway fidgeting. "What's the matter Claire-bear?"

She starts, then shrugs. "Don't really want to go to school today."

Castiel pushes up onto his elbows before he beckons the girl over to him. She jumps up on his bed and snuggles under the covers and into his chest before looking up at him.

"Well you, my love, are in luck. Because I don't want to go to work today."

Claire's eyes sparkle when she looks up at him again. "Oh yeah?"

"Yup." Castiel reaches and tweaks her nose, drawing a startled sound out of Claire. "Today is about just you and me." He casts a glance over at his phone, and before he can talk himself out of playing hooky, he grabs it and sends a text to Rachel and one to the attendance line for Claire's school. "There. All official. You are mine for the day!" He tackles a giggling Claire to the bed, and she shrieks as he tickles her. She squirms around under the covers until she manages to snag one of his pillows and smack him over the head with it. Castiel's eyes widen, and Claire stops, watching her uncle warily before a grin spreads across his face and he snatches up the other pillow and smacks her with it.

[ ](https://ibb.co/WVm6dGs)

Dean hears Billie reading out a letter from Anna as he slips into the kitchen for prep. He looks around but doesn't see Cas anywhere and wonders if he's running late.

"Nah, Castiel called out for the day. Said he needed some personal time," Billie tells him when he finally tracks her down.

Dean nods his thanks and continues with the prep for the night and ignoring the itch under his skin at Cas' absence. He can handle one measly day without seeing Cas.

He _totally_ doesn't handle one measly day without seeing Cas.

The night starts just fine and dandy, but as it progresses, the itch under his skin gets worse, and it makes him irritable. The orders start piling up faster than the kitchen can get them out, and the whole staff is feeling the pressure of being without their executive chef. Dean starts having to double up on his cooking and grabs Billie and has her plate for him so he can keep the grill going full time.

By the time the kitchen closes, all of them are drooping with exhaustion and slick with sweat, and the itch under Dean's skin has blown into what feels like ants crawling all over him. Once the kitchen is clean, he shoos them all out and catches his breath in the kitchen before he leaves for the night.

He catches Rachel's scent as he comes out of the office he shares with Cas and it stops him short. She's been wary of coming into the kitchen since Anna had her pup for some reason, so it’s a bit of a shock to his system to see her in here, especially after closing.

Rachel's leaning against the prep counter, hip resting on the base and her arms crossed under her breasts, causing them to jut up. Dean mentally rolls his eyes but nods at her in greeting.

"We did 110 covers tonight, Dean. Everything was excellent."

Dean shrugs. The staff does most of the work; he's just in charge of making sure the protein is cooked right. Hell, he didn't even plate the food tonight, not that he says anything to Rachel regarding this.

"You've really mastered the menu, Dean." Rachel pushes away from the counter and starts circling him like she's stalking him as prey. "You put your signature on the dishes, and all the regulars have noticed. How would you like to stay on permanently?"

Dean inclines his head towards her. "I think I'd like that if it's okay with Cas."

Rachel smiles tightly at him before she responds. "If you stay, Cas wouldn't have any say in it, since you would be his replacement."

Dean gapes at her silently. He finally breaks away from her and scoots out the door, making a mad dash for his Baby. Once he's safely inside the car, he grips the steering wheel and blows out a breath. Before he can over think himself, he puts the car in gear and starts driving toward Cas' house.

Dean chews on his lip the entire drive, unsure as to what's driving him to the alpha's place. It's not like he can even scent the guy yet, so they aren't scent-bonded. He's starting to notice an underlying clean scent to Cas though, meaning he's kept his promise of stopping the blockers. Dean can't help but wonder what Cas smells like without the blockers keeping his normal scent at bay. A smile tugs at his lips as he day-dreams a little.

Finally pulling into the visitor parking for the complex, Dean throws the car into park and hustles up the stairs to Cas' apartment. He knocks softly and can't help but smile when Cas' bed-head and puzzled expression come into view.

"Dean? Is everything okay? Do you know how late it is?"

Dean rubs the back of his neck and looks down at the floor. "Yeah, uh, sorry. I just- it was a really long, crappy night tonight and I just wanted to see you."

Castiel's hand cups his cheek, and Dean leans into it, rubbing his nose on Cas’ wrist. "You are always welcome here, Dean, it was just a surprise to see you, that’s all." Cas steps back and ushers Dean into the living room while he splits off to go into the kitchen. He returns with two open beers and hands one off to Dean before he sits down next to him.

Dean takes a swig and swallows before he decides to speak. "The kitchen was a very different place tonight without you in it."

Castiel smiles and takes a sip of his own. "I'm sure you did just fine without me."

Dean snorts. "Dude, it sucked. I mean, yeah everyone got fed and all, but we missed you." Dean picks at the label as he says quietly, "I missed you."

Castiel smiles softly and lays his hand on the back of Dean's neck, squeezing gently. They finish their beers in silence before Castiel regales Dean with stories of what he and Claire had gotten up to that day, detailing the pillow fight and subsequent game of chase around the apartment. Dean laughs at Cas' face when he details just how badly he'd lost to Claire at Monopoly, and Dean just knows he's got a sappy grin on his face as he watches Cas gesture and talk.

He's pretty sure he really likes this guy.

Cas finally pushes up from the couch and collects the bottles before heading into the kitchen to toss them into the recycling bin. He shuffles around the kitchen for a few minutes before sticking his head out and asking Dean if he's hungry.

Dean's stomach answers for him and Cas laughs, that big wide gummy grin blooming across his face that Dean finds so adorable. It's a rare thing to see on Cas' face- a genuine smile- so it warms him when Cas gives them around him.

Dean hauls himself off the couch and pads into the kitchen as well, watching as Cas throws together something quick to eat. He wraps his arms around the alpha's waist and sways their hips as he hums the opening bars to _Stairway to Heaven_. Cas' scent brightens, and Dean buries his nose into the crook of his neck, inhaling the scent of a summer's day with just the hint of a summer storm on the horizon. Cas stiffens under him at first, but when Dean makes a happy humming sound in the back of his throat, he relaxes again and lets Dean nuzzle him as he finishes making a quick Raman dinner for them both.

Once the bowls are full, and on the table, they sit down and eat silently, shooting glances at one another before focusing on the food again. The ginger in the broth is tangy enough that it keeps Dean's attention and the medley of vegetables in it taste beautifully together. Before Dean realizes it, the food is gone, and they are washing the bowls and setting them to dry before they make their way back to Castiel's bedroom.

They are still quiet as they divest each other of their clothing. Their hands are gentle, touches soft as murmurs pass between the two men. Cas drops down to his knees to help Dean step out of his pants and socks, and when he stands, he runs his hands up the sides of Dean's legs, making him shiver.

Castiel picks the omega up and turns to the bed in one fluid motion. He lays Dean down gently on top of the covers and peppers kisses along Dean's chest and belly, huffing to draw his scent into his lungs. He sucks a mark in the junction of Dean's hip where it creases down toward his groin, drawing a low moan from the man under him.

Dean threads one of his hands into Cas' hair and tugs gently, pulling his attention back up to him. "Hey there little alpha, we might want to talk about how far this is going to go before we get started."

Castiel leans back a little, and Dean takes advantage and wiggles his way up onto the bed so that he's firmly planted in the middle. Dean can see Cas' eyes glint a little in the darkness as he watches, and Dean grins as he pats the bed next to him. Cas flicks his eyes down to the movement before he crawls up next to Dean and lays down. He begins to trace idle patterns on Dean's chest as he thinks.

"I don't do this kind of thing," he says, quietly. Dean tilts his head over to look at Cas, but the alpha stays focused on the patterns he's tracing on Dean's skin.

"Don't do what?"

"This." He waves his hand between himself and Dean and continues, "My last relationship was years ago, and to someone who thought he could change me, even though he swore he wasn't interested in doing so. I've been on suppressants ever since, just so that I would not have to deal with my ruts or trying to fend off anyone who thought my scent was so alluring that they couldn't help themselves." Cas takes a deep breath and looks up at Dean. "I don't do casual sex, Dean. If we do this, I want you to stay. Not necessarily as my mate, mind you, but I don't want to look up one day, and you just be gone."

Dean nods in agreement. Cas is on the same page as he is. He's tired of looking over his shoulder, wondering if the other shoe will ever drop. He wants a family and damn it; he can even admit that he wants Cas and Claire.

He wants it all.

Dean rolls over onto his side and cups Cas' face with his free hand. "Sweetheart, I'm not going anywhere. You and Claire are so important to me. There's been something missing in my life, and when I came here, I had given up on finding it. But when I met you, met Claire," he breaks off and draws Cas into a soft kiss before he continues, "something in my chest just settled. And tonight, being able to scent you for the first time, God Cas, it was like coming home." Dean drops a kiss to Cas' forehead. "The only way you can get rid of me now is by sending me away, rejecting me. And I hope that you won-"

Castiel cuts him off when he surges up from the bed and presses a kiss to Dean's lips. He rolls Dean over and hovers over him as they delve into each other's mouths, tasting each other all over again. Dean breaks the kiss with a gasp, and Castiel takes advantage to press kisses down the bolt of Dean's jaw and to his throat. He nips at Dean's scent gland, ripping a moan from him, before he continues down the omega's body, nipping and sucking little marks as he goes. Cas takes his time mapping out Dean's body, finding the places that make him gasp, that make him moan, that make him squirm.

Dean's pretty close to being an incoherent mess by the time Cas decides that he wants to get the show on the road and dips his fingertip below his balls, teasing at his rim. Slick has coated Dean's ass, and he's pretty sure he's started dripping on the comforter, but when he feels the slight tug at his hole, he sighs and looks at Cas.

"Not gonna break, little alpha."

Castiel flicks his eyes up to meet Dean's. "Be that as it may, Dean, I refuse to hurt you." Cas buries two fingers in Dean and Dean's back bows with the sensation. He keens low in his throat when Cas rumbles his pleasure at how pliant Dean is, how ready.

"Come on Cas," Dean gasps as he rides the alpha's fingers. "Come on sweetheart, need you in me."

Cas growls as he removes his fingers, scooping up some of Dean's slick to smear on himself. He gets himself into position but hesitates one last time. "Dean, are you sure?"

Dean levels a glare at him. "Cas, if you don't get your dick in me, I swear-"

Castiel presses in slowly, and it cuts Dean's train of thought off as he lets out a truly filthy moan. Dean feels like he's being split open in all the best ways. There's no burn, not with the amount of slick easing Cas' way, and Dean feels complete for the first time in his life.

 _Mate_.

Dean can feel it thrumming through his body as he nods to Cas to let him know he's ready, and as the alpha sets a slow, steady rhythm, it feels more and more like Cas is putting all his broken parts back together again, even as he takes Dean apart.

They move together in slow motions, moans and whispers and gasps trading back and forth until Cas leans down to kiss Dean. Dean threads his fingers in Cas', linking their hands together to mimic the way their bodies are coming together, over and over.

Cas shuffles his knees closer to Dean, changing the angle, and Dean can feel fireworks going off behind his eyes when Cas' cock brushes over his prostate. Dean clenches his thighs around Castiel and moans, and a smirk spreads across Cas' face as he aims for his prostate over and over again. Dean can feel Cas' knot rubbing against his rim, and he gasps.

"Knot me, little alpha. Come on." Dean feels the fireworks go off again as Cas grits his teeth and picks up his pace, popping the growing knot in and out of his hole. Cas drops his nose down to Dean's scent gland and mouths at it, not biting down, but even just the hint of teeth has white noise gathering in Dean's head. Dean gasps again as Cas' knot fully swells and locks them together and Cas bites down on his shoulder as he continues to thrust shallowly.

Dean lifts his head and scents along Cas' neck, searching for his alpha's scent gland. When he finds it, he sucks a little bruise into it and mouths at it, tipping Cas over the edge. Cas shakes apart above him, and Dean can feel him filling him up as he watches Cas' face in awe. As soon as he recovers slightly, Cas snakes a hand between them and strokes Dean's cock in time with the short thrusts of his knot into Dean's prostate, and in just a few seconds, Dean is following Cas over the edge.

White explodes across Dean's vision, the fireworks multiplying in his head. _Mate mate breed mate bite_ is playing on a loop in his head, and he feels Cas come again, dragging a whimper out of Dean. Cas lays his forehead down on Dean's, and they come down together, panting.

They manage to get rolled over so that Dean is laying on Cas' chest with his nose firmly planted in his scent gland. The alpha's arms are wrapped around him as he shuffles a foot around, managing to get a toe under the blanket at the end of the bed. They shuffle a little bit and manage to get the blanket drawn up over them before they fall asleep, noses buried in each other's scent glands.


	9. Vexilla Regis

[ ](https://ibb.co/pW49KyX)

Dean groans when _Clair de Lune_ starts playing, and he lifts his head from where it's pillowed on Cas' chest. He squints in the early morning light and glares at the bedside table where the phone sits, vibrating slightly as the song continues to play.

Cas snuffles and scrunches his nose as he wakes up, and he reaches out to snag his phone off the table and silences it before he turns over and pulls Dean back down to him. Dean grins and rubs his nose on Cas', pulling a gummy smile from the alpha.

"Mornin' Cas." Dean sits up and stretches, scratching his stomach. Cas grunts in reply and whines when Dean slips out of bed and dodges his grasping hands as he snatches up his discarded clothing. Cas flops over on his stomach and grumbles as he watches Dean get dressed. Dean huffs a laugh as he bends over and pecks a kiss to Cas' cheek.

"I'll make coffee, little alpha, if you get Claire up and into the kitchen early enough, I’ll make pancakes for everyone."

Castiel's eyes go wide, and he nods fervently, fighting to get free of the blankets as Dean heads to the kitchen. He roots around the pantry while the first cup of coffee brews and pulls out the ingredients for the pancakes, grinning wide when he finds dried blueberries as well. He takes his bounty to the counter beside the stove and smiles when he hears Claire running down the hallway toward the kitchen, chanting "Dean Dean Dean" the whole way.

She slides to a stop right outside the kitchen and grins wide and squeals when she sees him. She throws herself on his legs and hugs him tight and grins up at him.

Dean grins down at her. "There's my sous chef! I was afraid she was gonna sleep in like a lazy-bones and not help me out with makin' pancakes this morning."

Claire shakes her head and runs over to the table, dragging a chair back with her so she can stand next to Dean as he teaches her how to make coffee and pancakes.

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

Castiel hurries through a quick shower after he gets Claire up and headed towards Dean. He smiles as he remembers the look of surprise on Claire's face when he told her that Dean was waiting for her in the kitchen.

He soaps himself down and washes his hair, and rinses off as quickly as he can, dressing for the day within a button-down shirt and black slacks after he dries off. He catches the scent of pancakes wafting down the hallway mixed in with Dean's honeysuckle and leather scent, and his alpha rumbles in the back of his mind.

_Mate. Home._

He'd almost bitten Dean the night before when they'd had sex, and his alpha is displeased with the lack of mating but seems to be mollified with the fact that Dean is still here, within reach.

Since going off his suppressants, Castiel and his alpha have been getting along a lot better. Castiel feels like he understands his feral side a lot better now that he's not suppressing it.

Some things are just instinct, however, and his feral side seems to take great pleasure in reminding Castiel of this fact.

Castiel runs a hand through his hair as he walks down the hallway to the kitchen. He can hear the murmur of Dean and Claire's voices as he gets closer and picks out Dean's instructions on the fine art of flipping pancakes. Castiel leans against the entryway and watches them work on breakfast and feels warmth curling in his chest as he watches the pair at his stove.

Claire is biting her lip as she holds the pan with both hands, following Dean's instructions to the letter. She makes a few abortive attempts to flip the pancake, but when she does finally go through with the attempt, she manages to execute a fair flip, getting all of the pancake in the pan, even if it did fold in half. She lets the pan clatter on the stove top and shrieks happily as Dean lets out a big whoop for her, jumping up and down on her chair before she wraps Dean up in a hug. Castiel claps excitedly for her as he comes into the kitchen and snags his coffee cup from the counter, pleasantly surprised to see that Dean had already made the coffee. Dean shoos Castiel away from the stove and to one of the other chairs at the table, and Castiel goes quietly and sits down, sipping at the coffee while he watches the omega and his niece make breakfast.

They both are grinning wide as the stack of pancakes is distributed between the three of them. Dean leans over to peck a kiss on Castiel's cheek, but he shakes his head and nods toward Claire, sitting at the other end of the table watching them.

Dean huffs and rolls his eyes before he looks at Claire. "Hey, Claire. I'm gonna kiss your uncle now. Is that okay?"

Claire looks scandalized, and a little disgusted but shrugs her shoulders before she digs into her breakfast. "Dean, that's gross, but if you want to kiss Uncle Cas, I'm not gonna stop you."

Dean grins and leans over, smacking a kiss on Castiel's lips before he can say anything. Castiel pushes his face away, and Dean laughs as he sits down at his plate.

"This is so embarrassing," Castiel says to Dean. "How are we going to work together now?"

Dean grins around a mouth full of food. "We'll do what we always did. You tell me what to do, and I'll go behind your back and do whatever I want."

Claire snickers and Castiel barks a laugh as they continue eating.

Breakfast is quick but full of conversation. They chat with Claire about school, and at one point the topic of running their own restaurant comes up. They banter back and forth about the details- what they would serve, how long they would be open, who they would hire- before they start throwing ideas around for a name.

"Well, CDC is out for obvious reasons. DCC sounds weird." Dean hums to himself. "What about Novaks and Winchester?"

Claire muses over this for a few seconds before she slowly starts nodding her head in agreement. "I like it. What if one of us changes our name though?"

Dean shrugs. "Eh, it happens all the time. 'S why you'll see actors and stuff publicly go by their maiden name instead of married. Privately they use the married one. Kinda like a pen name, like what writers do."

Claire nods slowly before Castiel shoos her off to get ready for school. They all pile into the Impala, and Castiel gives Dean directions to the school. They pile out of the car for a group hug when they get there before Claire runs inside.

The rest of the day is spent at an outdoor market Castiel goes to sometimes for truffles when Gabriel can't get them for him. He points out to Dean the different things that he uses, and Dean even catches on to his use of kaffir lime leaves for his saffron sauce. Castiel pecks a kiss to his nose as a reward.

There are no secrets between them anymore.

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

Thursday night at the restaurant isn’t usually too busy, which is a relief to the staff after the previous night. Castiel comes back to work with Claire in tow before she gets picked up by Pam, and everyone is happy to see them both.

Or almost everyone is happy to see them.

Rachel looks like she's taken a bite of one of the lemons she smells like as she watches Dean and Castiel interact during prep. They'd scent bonded over the last few hours, and they smelled like honeysuckle before a summer rain. Castiel quirks an eyebrow at Dean, nodding toward the woman, and Dean shrugs his shoulder, as much at a loss as Castiel is.

Prep goes smoothly, and they are all taking a break before the first of the dinner patrons come in, chatting quietly among themselves, catching up. Billie is showing him Anna's letter and the picture of her pup when Rachel leans over Castiel's shoulder and shows him a tiny take-out box. "What do you think?"

"What is it?" he asks, taking the box and turning it over in his hands.

Rachel grins as she stands up and puts her hands on her hips. "Dean came up with a great idea of sending mini desserts home in a box. It's so obvious!"

Castiel squints at the box in his hands and tilts his head. "Yes... So obvious."

Rachel bustles around them and walks over to Dean, placing her hands on his shoulders, causing Castiel's alpha to rumble in the back of his mind. "And Dean, I love those wines you recommended for the new menu. They should pair well with everything."

Dean shrugs her hands off, and gruffly tells her, "Well, you're gonna have to discuss that with Cas. I don't know a whole lot about wine; you just wanted to know what I drink." Castiel watches the interaction, curiosity sparking in his brain. When did Rachel have time to talk to Dean about things like desserts and wine and new directions in the restaurant?

And why hadn't she ever talked to him about these things?

[ ](https://ibb.co/WVm6dGs)

"Table five's coming up in two seconds, chef."

Rachel pushes into the kitchen and calls out, "Dean, the couple at table eight wants to say hello. They're drooling over the sea bass."

Dean rolls his eyes and huffs. "Cas is responsible for all the food," he calls back.

Dean can smell Rachel's irritation as she returns "Yes well, he hates leaving the kitchen. Come say hi."

Dean stills, the quail coming to rest. "Interesting." He lifts his eyes to look straight at Rachel. "What else can you tell us about him?"

Rachel rolls her eyes and scowls. "You know what? I'm not gonna get into this. I don't care who goes out there. But if it is you,” she says pointing at Castiel, “do me a favor and try not to stab anyone who complains." She turns around and pushes back out of the kitchen, the smell of sour lemons following her.

Dean looks over at Castiel and shrugs. "Don't look at me. I have no idea what she's playing at here."

Dean watches as Cas' face darkens and he points to the walk-in freezer before stalking over and wrenching the door open. 

"You. Me. In there. Now."

Dean hustles over to the freezer and follows Cas in. He can smell the fury of a summer thunderstorm rolling off the alpha in front of him, and he jumps a little when Cas whirls around when the door closes behind Dean.

"What the hell is going on here, Dean?"

"What do you mean?"

"I turn my back for a couple of days and it's _Dean, the wine. Dean, the customers. Dean, the boxes_. So, I ask again, Dean, what the hell is going on?"

Dean sighs and runs his hands down his face. "She offered me your job."

Castiel stands up ramrod-straight, a mask falling over his features. "What? Why didn't you tell me? I can't believe this."

"Cas, I was going to tell you," Dean starts softly.

Castiel starts talking louder as he paces back and forth. "I knew I couldn't trust you. The moment I met you, I knew. The truth is that you just can't trust anyone."

Dean clenches his jaw as sadness and anger wash through his body. "No Cas. You've never trusted anyone in your life."

Castiel snorts an ugly laugh and throws his hands wide, stopping in front of Dean. "Guess what? Why should I when this happens? Why didn't you have the guts just to run your own kitchen, Dean? Instead of coming in here and taking over mine?"

Dean's jaw drops. "Is that what you think this is?"

Castiel stalks up to him and shoves him in the chest, driving him back to the door. "That's _exactly_ what I think."

Dean looks at Cas, his alpha, his _mate_ , and swallows hard. "You know Cas; it's okay to let people in sometimes. Maybe one of these days you'll figure that out."

Castiel backs away and crosses his arms over his chest and huffs. "You don't understand. This place is my life. This is _who I am_."

Dean takes a step towards Castiel, untying his apron as he does. "No Cas, it's not who you are. It's only one little part." He places the apron in Cas' unresisting hands before he opens the freezer door to see the whole kitchen at a standstill, waiting for them to emerge from the freezer. Dean waves to them, a sad smile on his face before he heads into the office and gathers his things. He makes sure that he gets everything that's his personally and starts mentally planning what he's going to do. He looks back at the staff before he pushes out the back door and loads his things into Baby and heads for home, his omega howling with the rejection of his alpha, and his shattered heart lying in the floorboard.

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

Castiel lets himself into his apartment later that night, tossing his keys into the bowl next to the door. He makes his way quietly into the living room where Pam is watching NatGeo.

"Hey, Pam." He sits down heavily next to her on the couch. "How was she?"

Pam shuts off the tv and turns to Castiel. "She was fine. We played Monopoly, and she kicked my ass."

Castiel huffs a laugh. "Yeah, she does that to me too. Smart little bugger, our Claire-bear."

Pam stands up and starts gathering her things. "You bet she's smart. Probably the smartest of all the kids I watch." She shoots a glance over at Castiel. "You okay there, Alpha?"

Castiel waves her off as they walk to the door. "I'm fine. Just a rough night. Thank you so much, Pam. See you on Monday?"

Pam gives him a sunny smile as she walks out the door. "You bet your ass I'll be here Monday. Squirt owes me a rematch." She waves and heads down the stairs as Castiel closes the door behind her. He slumps against it once it's locked, and he runs his hand down his face. He feels his phone buzz in his pocket and pulls it out to see a text from Dean.

>> _And for the record? I turned her down._

Castiel stares at his phone for a few minutes, letting the screen go dark before he puts it back into his pocket. He can smell his own grief filling the apartment, so he tries to push it back down and shuts his alpha out as he makes his way to his bedroom. He toes his shoes off, and sits down on the edge of his bed, staring off into space.

"Uncle Cas?"

Castiel pulls himself from his thoughts and looks at his niece as she creeps into his room. "Yes, sweetheart?"

Claire slips into bed with him, Mr. Wiggles clutched tightly to her chest as she snuggles up to him and worms her way under his arm. "Are you okay?" she whispers.

Castiel looks up at the ceiling and ponders the question. Was he okay? He's just driven away the only man he could see himself with, someone who is good with Claire, who is good for him. He sighs and looks back down at Claire and decides to answer honestly. "No, sweetheart, I'm not okay. But I will be."

Claire looks thoughtful at his answer. She studies Castiel's face for a few moments and then tugs Mr. Wiggles up from where he'd fallen between them. She holds him up to Castiel's chest and whispers to him, "Here, take Mr. Wiggles. I know he can't take away the pain or the sadness, but he can be here for you."

Castiel bands his free arm around the grumpy-looking cat and draws Claire tighter to his side. "Thank you, Claire."

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

The following days are hell for Castiel. Rachel screamed at him in front of the entire staff on Friday after Dean had dropped off his resignation letter to her and Claire has been moody since Dean hasn't been coming over to the apartment any more or been at the restaurant. Castiel's alpha has curled up into a tight ball in the corner of his mind, pining for Dean.

He's pining for his mate.

Castiel has no idea how they have gotten here. After so long not letting anyone in, Dean had come in and demolished all his walls and shown him that there are people in the world that care about him, exactly as he is.

And Castiel has driven him away.

Rachel has made it abundantly clear that he needs to find a replacement for Dean, so he gathers the old applications that he and Anna had gone through and pulls the most promising ones. He finds Dean's in the stack and sets it to the side before he picks up the phone, setting up interviews with anyone still interested in the position.

However, none of the people he interviews seems like a good fit. One is clearly angling for the executive chef position, one's not even legal in the United States to work (not that Castiel cares, but Rachel does), and one grated on his alpha's nerves so much that it took all he had not to rip his throat out during the interview.

He calls Anna just to hear her voice and tries to keep his misery to himself. They chat and catch up with each other, and Anna extracts a promise from him to see the pup before she goes back to work. She promises to reach out for some help in locating a replacement for Dean, expressing her sadness over him leaving.

Castiel can't bring himself to tell her he's the one who drove him away. He's pretty sure she already knows.

On Sunday, a week after Dean left, Claire is sitting in the living room watching cartoons when she twists and levels a look at Castiel.

"Uncle Cas? Why doesn't Dean come over anymore?"

Castiel squirms under her gaze and looks away. "We had a bit of a fight."

Claire looks sad. "What about?"

"Just some silly grown-up stuff. Nothing to worry about sweetheart."

"Is he gonna come back?"

Castiel swallows hard and suppresses a whine. "No, he's not."

[ ](https://ibb.co/WVm6dGs)

Dean's had a pretty shitty week.

He'd gone and dropped off his resignation letter to Rachel personally, trying to dodge her questions so he didn't have to talk to anyone else. She kept pushing at him, though, physically backing him into a corner until he'd finally snapped and growled at her. It'd startled her enough that she'd backed off, and he'd been able to get around her and out the door before any of the staff saw him.

Pining has set in bad enough that he's depressed as hell, and his omega has withdrawn into his mind so much that he barely feels a twinge from it. His mom had taken one look at him when he showed up on her doorstep and just pulled him inside, setting him down at the couch and holding him as he cried on her shoulder, telling her everything.

His mate has rejected him, and the scent bond fades by Monday, leaving Dean with nothing but his memories of his mate and his mate's niece.

On Wednesday he calls Sam and asks him if there are any high scale Italian restaurants in Palo Alto. When Sammy pushes for information, Dean snaps at him before backtracking and apologizing, telling him the whole story. Sam had put him on speaker, dragging Jess over to the phone as well, and they talked back and forth about Dean's options and giving him the names of some places near where they live, just in case Dean wants to get out of Kansas City for a while.

Friday night has Charlie dragging Dean over to her apartment and busting out the beer and Star Wars. She doesn't have a shift the next day, so they binge the entire series, shitty prequels included.

They don't talk about it.

Saturday is when he starts putting in applications for locations in Palo Alto that are looking for executive chefs, and a part of himself dies a little more at the thought of being so far away from his alpha. But he knows that he needs to move on.

On Sunday he picks up a shift at the hospital when they call him, frantic, because they have two people out sick and the main cook quit. He gets home late and falls asleep still fully clothed.

Monday morning, his phone rings. Dean groans into his pillow as he gropes around at his bedside table before he finds his phone and sets it to his ear without looking at the caller.

"'Llo?"

"Dean!" Castiel's voice rings out, and Dean shoots up in bed at hearing the panic in his voice. "Is Claire with you?"

Dean's confused, but answers, "No, why would she be? Cas, I haven't seen either of you since..." he trails off.

"Dean, I got up this morning, and she was gone. I thought maybe she went to school, but I'm here now and they haven't seen her and oh God, what am I going to do?"

Dean draws in a sharp breath at what Castiel is saying. Claire is _missing_. "Cas! Cas man, you gotta calm down." He hears Castiel struggle to take a deep breath through the phone and breaths with him until Castiel can draw a full breath again.

"Alright, Cas. Tell me what happened. I'm getting dressed right now so I can come and pick you up so we can go look for her."

"I told her about us last night. She was upset, but I di-didn't think that she'd run away! Dean, I can't lose her; I _can't_."

Dean runs out the door, grabbing his coat and scarf since it snowed last night, and skids to a stop next to Baby. He shoves his phone between his ear and shoulder as he unlocks her. "Cas, did you talk to the police yet? What did they say?"

Castiel snorts. "They won't take a report since it's not been twenty-four hours. They were no help."

Dean winces. "Alright. Where are you at? I'm going to head to you and call a friend of mine in the department to see if we can get some help."

Castiel lets out a shuddering breath. “I'm at my apartment now. I've already gone to the school, but I'll put together a list of places we can check while you drive over here."

"Okay, good plan, Cas. Just hang on for me, I'll be there as soon as I can, okay? I'm going to hang up now so I can call Jody, but if you need me, you call me. I mean it, Cas."

"Alright. See you soon, Dean."

Dean hangs up and immediately gets Siri to call Jody's office number.

"Sheriff Mills, how can I help you?"

"Jody it's Dean. I need a favor."

"Dean, what's wrong? Is it-"

"It's not Mom or me. Cas' niece is missing. We think she ran off this morning because she was upset that Cas and I split up. I'm headed over to his place right now to help him look for her."

Dean can hear the scratching of a pen in the background when he stops to take a breath, and Jody speaks up. "Okay, give me a description, and I'll send a unit out and have them look for her. Then get your asses down to the station and get a formal report in."

Dean blows out a breath. "Thank you, Jody." He gives her all of Claire's details and she promises to call him if they find her before they hang up.

Dean pulls into his - former - normal parking spot, and he flies up the stairs to Castiel's apartment. He doesn't even get the chance to knock before the door is flung open and Cas barrels into him, tears running down his face as he buries his nose into the crook of Dean's neck. Dean wraps his arms around Cas' shoulders and gets them into the apartment, kicking the door closed behind them. He steers them to the couch and gets Castiel to sit down with him. He cradles Castiel to his chest and rocks him back and forth like he used to do for Sammy when he had nightmares.

His phone rings and he fumbles it out of his pocket. "Yeah, Jody?" He listens to Jody relay the information they have before he finishes the conversation with, "Alright, thanks, Jody. I'll keep you posted." He hangs up, and Castiel draws back and looks at him.

"What did she say?"

"They checked the bus station and the train station. She could be anywhere."

Castiel nods silently, and Dean starts thinking out loud. "Well, she's a kid. She would probably choose someplace she knows, right?"

Castiel shrugs. "She went to school and the restaurant, that’s it."

Dean pulls Castiel into another hug. "Cas, it's gonna be fine. She's gonna be all right. You know what, maybe we should check the bedroom again. Maybe she left a note somewhere."

They haul themselves off the couch and make their way to Claire's bedroom, searching around the room for anything that would indicate where she went.

"Did she take her backpack?" Dean asks. "If she didn't pack anything..."

"She didn't take Mr. Wiggles."

Dean stops searching around the room and looks at Cas. "What?"

Castiel picks up the cat and shows it to Dean. "She wouldn't run away without Mr. Wiggles, right?" Cas sits down on Claire's bed, hugging the toy to his chest. "I let her down, Dean. I feel like I made a mess of everything."

Dean kneels beside Castiel. "We're gonna find her. I promise."

Castiel looks lost as he says, "She needs her mother."

An idea dawns in Dean's head as he repeats what Cas just said to himself. "Cas, I think I know where she might be. Come on." He pulls Castiel to his feet and shoves his coat at him, pushing him out of the apartment and down the stairs. It's started snowing in the time they were inside so he shoves Castiel into the passenger seat of the Impala before he backs out and heads to the cemetery. They fly through the streets, and Dean thanks any deity listening that traffic is light on the way.

They pull in and Cas directs him to where Hannah is buried. As they creep closer, Dean catches sight of Claire's multi-colored scarf, and he points to her. "There she is, right there." He throws the car in park as Castiel fumbles with his seatbelt, muttering to himself until Dean reaches over and pops it for him and they spill out of the car and run over to where Claire is sitting in front of her mother's grave. Her knees are pulled up to her chest, and her head is bowed over them, with her arms wrapped around her legs. A thin layer of snow has settled over the pup.

Dean thinks she looks so small and lost.

Castiel falls to his knees next to her and gathers her to him. "Oh, thank God. Claire, are you all right? Claire, please, don't ever do that again. I was so afraid something had happened to you."

Claire is shaking in his arms as Dean lowers himself into a crouch next to them. "Sweetheart, what is it?"

Claire looks up at them. "I'm afraid I'm gonna forget her."

Cas' face falls. “Oh, Claire-bear. We'll never forget her. I promise. Never. And we can come here whenever you want, okay?"

Claire nods, and they all stand up, brushing the snow from Claire before they hustle her over to the Impala. She climbs in the front seat with Cas and snuggles herself down between them and dozes off on the way back to Castiel's apartment.

Castiel carries her up the stairs and lets Dean unlock the door for them. Dean tosses the keys into their normal bowl and turns to leave. 

"You're coming in, aren't you, Dean?"

Dean sighs and turns back around. "Not today, sweetie."

Claire blinks owlishly from her place in Cas' arms. "Are you guys still mad at each other?"

Dean smiles at her and tucks a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "No sweetheart. It's just not a good idea if I come in."

Claire nods sleepily, and Castiel looks up at Dean. "Let me go put her in bed. Will you wait for a moment?"

Dean nods his assent and leans against the door frame while he waits for Castiel to come back.

Castiel clears his throat, startling Dean from his thoughts. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry, Dean."

Dean chuckles wryly. "Don't apologize. I actually wanna thank you. I thought a lot about what you said, about me not having the guts to go after what I want, and you were right." Dean shrugs. "I've applied to a few places out in Palo Alto. There's a few places out there lookin' for an executive chef as well as a new place that's due to open in a few weeks."

Castiel swallows and looks down at his feet. "Oh. Well, that's great."

Dean snorts and pushes off the door frame. "Yeah, well, I couldn't have done it without you." Dean turns and leaves, shutting the door behind him softly.

[ ](https://ibb.co/X70c8xC)

Billie shoves her way through the doors with a growl and throws the plate in her hand in the trash hard enough that it shatters. "The dickbag at twelve says that if he wanted charcoal instead of a steak, he would have ordered it that way."

Castiel looks up and raises his eyebrows. "That's the one who ordered it rare, correct?"

Billie nods tightly as Rachel walks into the kitchen.

Castiel's jaw drops. "If that steak was any rarer, it would be wandering through here mooing and chewing the cud."

Rachel's jaw tightens as Castiel's alpha rumbles in laughter at her. "These are high exec ad people, Castiel. Do not embarrass me tonight. Just fire another one and give them what they want."

Castiel rolls his eyes but calls out the order; "Fire a rare on the fly, twelve ounces. Make it bloody, Carlos." Carlos repeats back the order as the kitchen goes back to what they were doing and Billie stands by, waiting for the new steak. Once it's plated, she whisks it out the door, and the rest of the servers surge in to pick up their plates.

Castiel is focused on the rack of lamb in front of him when he picks up Billie's scent again right before she bursts back into the kitchen. He looks up at her, wary.

"Twelve wants to know if you've ever cooked a rare steak before."

Something in Castiel snaps. His alpha comes roaring to the front of his mind, and for once, Castiel is in full agreement with it. He snatches up a large meat fork and skewers the largest raw steak they have at the prep table, scattering the line cooks. He whirls around and marches toward Billie, who has a glint in her eye as she escorts him back to table twelve. She sets down a clean plate, and he slams the fresh steak down onto the plate hard enough that it shatters, and the meat fork embeds itself into the table.

"Rare enough for you?" he snarls at the alpha. The apparently high-powered executive has gone pale in the face, and the whole restaurant has fallen silent. The alpha starts to stammer out something as he smells Rachel come stalking up to him.

She shoves him away from the table. "Are you out of your mind?"

He snarls back at her and slaps her hands away from him. "Yeah. That's why I'm in therapy."

Rachel's face pales, and she turns away to the table while the restaurant is still looking on. "I'm so sorry, I'll get you a new tablecloth."

Castiel shoves her out of the way. "No, no. Let me take care of it." He rips the fork out of the table before he takes hold of the tablecloth and _pulls_ , yanking the cloth away from the table with a loud rip, leaving the plates behind. He whirls and throws the wadded-up tablecloth at Rachel. "That felt good." He starts to stalk back to the kitchen before he stops and turns back to Rachel. "No. You know what? I'm done. I quit."

The restaurant erupts in cheers and applause behind him as he walks out of the dining room.

**

Donna is sitting in her favorite chair, looking at the man who has become her favorite client. The alpha is quiet today, in body and mind. He's seated on the couch for once, not pacing the room. She can still smell the sadness emanating off him though.

Castiel starts speaking softly, looking down at his hands. "I wish there was a cookbook for life, you know? With recipes telling us exactly what to do." He takes a breath and looks up at Donna. "I know, I know. You're gonna say, 'How else can we learn, Cas?'"

Donna hums, and replies, "No, actually, I wasn't gonna say that. You want to guess again?"

Castiel blinks at her. "Oh no, go ahead."

Donna smiles softly. "What I was gonna say was, you know better than anyone. It's the recipes you create yourself that are the best."

Castiel smiles softly at her.

[ ](https://ibb.co/WVm6dGs)

Dean looks around his apartment and sighs. The new place out in Palo Alto called him yesterday and wants him to fly out for a face to face interview. As terrified as he is of flying, he can't ask for an extension on the time frame, so he's quietly panicking as he packs his brand-new carry-on suitcase with the essentials of what he's going to need for the next week along with his garment bag.

A knock at the door has him looking at it in confusion. Mom has already flown out to California to spend a few extra days with Sam and Jess, so there shouldn't be anyone in town that would bother coming by to see him, and Charlie’s at work.

Shock coursed through him when he opens the door to see Castiel standing there, pot in hand. Castiel is shifting back and forth on his feet, and Dean can smell the nervousness wafting off the alpha in front of him.

Castiel holds up the pot. "I think you should know there's something else I never do."

Dean quirks an eyebrow at him. "Oh yeah? What's that?"

Castiel clears his throat. "I never invite myself into a man's apartment, blindfold him and feed him saffron sauce while begging him not to go to Palo Alto."

A slow smile makes its way across Dean's face. "Oh? You never do that?"

A gummy smile breaks across Castiel's face in answer to Dean's. "Never."

Dean opens the door and lets Castiel come in. He takes the pot and sets it down on the breakfast bar and draws the alpha into a tight hug and a soft kiss. "That's too bad," Dean murmurs into Castiel's lips before they kiss again. 


	10. Epilogue: If There Hadn’t Been You

[ ](https://ibb.co/8mtfBrM)

_Six months later._

The sounds of classic rock filter through the speakers of the little café, with the occasional classical number thrown in. Two chefs stand at the open kitchen, back to back, working as a single unit. The N&W Café is full, almost bursting with people, and a young blond girl runs back and forth between the tables, taking orders and delivering them.

The café is filled with the people that are most important to them; Donna, Anna, her mate and pup, Sammy and Jess, Mary and Charlie...

Acoustic guitar notes twang from the speakers and Castiel quirks an eyebrow up, throwing a look over his shoulder. "This isn't on the playlist."

_A man, filled with doubt, down and out and so alone_

Dean's happy scent curls around him as the man himself turns around and presses a kiss into his neck under his ear. Castiel hums as Dean starts singing along with the lyrics in his low timbre.

_A ship tossed and turned, lost and yearning for a home_

Dean wraps his arms around Castiel's waist, hugging him close.

_A survivor, barely surviving, not really sure of his next move_

_All of this, I would have been, if there hadn't been you_

Dean starts swaying his body side to side, and Castiel relaxes back into the omega and sways with him.

_If there hadn't been you, where would I be?_

_If there hadn't been you here for me_

Dean tugs him around so that they are face to face, and brings his arms up, wrapping them around Castiel's neck and leaning their foreheads together. Castiel gives up trying to resist the good-looking man in front of him and wraps his arms around his waist.

_I made it through times, I never would've made it through_

_If there hadn't been you_

Castiel's chest grows tight with the overwhelming amount of love that crashes into him. Here he is, standing in his own café with the two lights of his life, and Dean is singing to him words of thanks _. To him._ As if he'd done something profound to be worthy of this precious soul in front of him, leading him in a shuffling dance like they were still in high school.

_A man, filled with hope, who finally knows where he belongs_

_A heart, filled with love, more than enough to keep it strong_

Tears gather in Castiel's eyes as the song continues and the meaning to the words sink into him.

_A life that's alive again, no longer afraid to face the truth_

_All of this, I would have missed, if there hadn't been you_

The tears break free and flow down his face. Dean smiles softly at him as he continues to sing along as the notes swell.

_If there hadn't been you, on my side_

_You in my life_

Dean unwraps his arms from around Castiel's neck and cups his face softly, foreheads still touching.

_All my dreams would still be dreams_

_If there hadn't been you_

Dean kisses him softly in the small interlude of the song before pulling back and whispering the final part of the song.

_All my dreams would still be dreams_

_If there hadn't been you_

As the song finishes, Castiel realizes that the café is silent. He starts to look around as Dean draws back from him, but his attention is snapped back to the man in front of him as Dean lowers himself to one knee.

Oh.

Dean pulls a small box out of his apron pocket and snaps it open, revealing a silver-tone band nestled in the dark blue velvet. He clears his throat - why is it still so quiet? Why hasn’t the next song in the playlist started up? - and looks up at Castiel.

"Cas. You are one of the most important people in my life. Meeting you, meeting Claire- it's been like finding my other puzzle pieces, the pieces that make me whole." Dean swallows and forges on. "Castiel Novak, will you do me the honor of marrying me?"

Tears are gliding down Castiel's face in torrents now, and he stands stock still for a second, in shock. Dean wants him to... Dean...

Dean still needs an answer he realizes as he snaps back to himself. He nods frantically as he reaches for Dean, too overcome with emotions to speak. He sinks to his knees in front of Dean and gathers the omega to him in a crushing hug.

 _"Yes,"_ he whispers into Dean's ear. "Yes Dean, I will marry you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's that! 
> 
> This is the longest thing I have written to date, and my first major foray into the Omegaverse. Thank you so much for putting up with my rambling story, and feel free to leave a comment if you liked it!
> 
> You can come find me on [Tumblr ](https://wargurl83.tumblr.com/) or [Pillowfort ](https://www.pillowfort.social/wargurl83).  
> Check out my other stories [here ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wargurl83/works).  
> And you can always come talk to me on the [ProfoundBond Discord ](http://discord.profoundbond.net/)!

**Author's Note:**

> 9/19/19 Note: So for those who may read the comments and go ??? about the comments about the police taking it very seriously vs what I had in my story... I finally fixed it. It did NOT impact the story in any way, but it was bugging me, so. Yeah. 
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading if you got this far!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Art for Symphony of Flavors](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19322842) by [foxymoley](https://archiveofourown.org/users/foxymoley/pseuds/foxymoley)




End file.
